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MESSIANIC    PROPHECY. 


MESSIANIC  PROPHECY: 

Its  ©rigin,  f^istorical  ©rointlj,  anti    delation  to 
i^cbj  ^rstament  jFulftlmcnt. 


By    Dr.    EDWARD     R  I  E  H  M, 

LATE   PROFESSOR   OF  THEOLOOY    IN    HALLE. 


SECOND    EDITION. 
TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN  BY 

LEWIS  A.  MUIRHEAD,  B.D., 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  BY 
Professor  A.  B.  DAVIDSON,  D.D., 

NEW    COLLEGE,    EDINBURGH. 


NEW   YORK: 
CHARLES     SCRIBNER'S     SONS. 

EDINBURGH  :  T.  &  T.  CLARK,  38  GEORGE  STREET. 
1891. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION. 


rriHE  studies  which  form  the  contents  of  this  book 
were  published  originally  in  three  parts  in  Thco- 
logische  Studien  unci  Kritilcen^  (1865  and  1869).  In 
compliance  with  frequent  requests  I  allowed  them 
to  appear  'in  1875  as  a  separate  work,  of  which  an 
English  translation  was  published  in  1876  by  T.  &  T. 
Clark,  Edinburgh.  More  than  a  year  ago  the  book 
was  sold  off.  The  continuance  of  the  demand  for 
it,  and  the  conviction  that,  apart  from  works  on  the 
same  subject  that  had  appeared  in  the  interval,  it 
still  had  a  special  mission  to  fulfil,  decided  me  to 
publish  a  new  edition.  Apart  from  a  reference  to 
recent  literature,  the  Second  and  Third  Parts  will 
be  found  substantially  unaltered.  More  important 
alterations,  however,  both  as  to  form  and  matter, 
were  found  necessary  in  the  First  Part,  not  because 
my  views  had  changed,  but  because  it  was  necessary 
to  justify  them  against  objections,  and  to  secure 
them  at  various  points  from  misunderstanding.  May 
^  [Theological  Essays  and  Revietvs — a  Magazine. — Tr.] 


vi  Preface  to  the  Second  Edit  ion. 

the  little  book  in  its  partly  altered  form  help  to 
further  the  design  of  its  original  conceplion  "  by 
making  way  for  the  conviction,  that  when  full  justice 
has  been  done  to  the  principles  of  grammatical  and 
historical  exegesis,  and  due  recognition  given  to  all 
the  well-established  results  of  critical  investigation  of 
the  Old  Testament  writings  and  history,  the  Divine 
revelations  and  deeds  of  the  Old  Covenant,  prepara- 
tory to  Christ  and  His  Kingdom,  so  far  from  being 
obscured,  appear  rather  in  clearer  light,  because  they 
emerge  to  view  in  more  tangible  historic  reality." 

Dr.  Edward  Eiehm. 

Hallk,  22nd  Xucvmh  r  1884. 


TRANSLATOR'S   PREFACE. 


T  TKUST  I  have  not  altogether  failed  in  the 
-*-  endeavour  to  make  this  translation  at  once 
accurate  and  readable.  It  has  had  the  advantage  of 
being  not  only  read,  but  for  the  most  part  carefully 
examined  in  proof  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Davidson,  New- 
College,  Edinburgh,  to  whom  I  owe  more  thanks  in 
connection  with  my  execution  of  the  work  than  1 
can  well  here  express.  I  am  glad  that  he  thinks 
favourably  of  the  translation,  and,  while  pleading 
guilty  to  the  charge  of  using  philosophical  terras  (see 
p.  xviii),  I  have  to  say  that  in  this  respect  I  have 
certainly  not  gone  beyond  the  example  of  the  German 
original.  The  liberties  I  have  taken  with  Eiehm's 
text  do  not  on  the  whole  exceed  those  ordinarily  con- 
ceded to  a  translator,  but  the  few  following  explanations 
may  not  be  amiss. 

The  italics  are  in  the  main  those  of  Eiehm,  but 
there  are  naturally  some  divergences  which  did  not 
seem  to  me  of  such  importance  as  to  require  special 
indication.  I  have  been  so  impressed  by  a  sense  of 
the  importance  of  Eiehm's  work  to  the  general  reader 
and   learner,  as   well   as   to  the  scholar,  that   I   have 


viii  Translator  s  Preface. 

excluded  Greek  and  Hebrew  cliaracters — in  one  or  two 
cases  even  the  words  themselves  —  both  from  the 
text  and  the  footnotes,  and  where  the  words  are 
used,  I  have  generally  inserted  English  equivalents 
in  brackets.  With  the  exception  perhaps  of  the  use 
uf  ch  (instead  of  h)  for  n,  the  system  of  transliteration 
adopted  for  the  Hebrew  words  is  that  generally 
employed.  Except  in  the  name  Jehovah  (Yah®veh), 
no  equivalent  has  been  used  for  the  silent  simple 
i^h'^va.  For  the  composite  ah^vas  I  have  used  the 
corresponding  vowels  with  the  short  mark  ("). 
The  s^ghol  is  expressed  either  by  e  or  by  i.  In 
the  Greek  words  the  short  vowels  are  not  marked. 
The  numbers  used  in  citing  Scripture  texts  have, 
Avhere  necessary,  been  altered  so  as  to  correspond 
with  those  of  the  English  Bible.  The  printers 
have  adopted  the  plan  of  a  uniform  numeral  for 
chapter  and  verse;  it  will  be  understood  that  the 
comma  marks  a  transition  to  a  new  chapter  or  hook, 
and  that  it  is  placed  hefore  (not,  as  with  Riehm, 
((fter)  the  transition.  In  order  to  lessen  the  number 
of  parentheses  in  the  text,  I  have  transferred  the 
major  part  of  the  Scripture  references  to  the  footnotes, 
even  where,  as  in  most  cases,  Riehm  has  placed  them 
in  the  text.  Except  where  the  contrary  is  stated,  the 
page,  etc.,  references  are  to  the  originals  of  the  works 
cited.  The  abbreviation  in  loc.  cit.  (in  loco  citato) 
means  in  the  work  (of  the  author  in  question)  already 
cited.  Iliehm's  style  is  on  the  whole  terse  and  clear ; 
but  I  have  not  hesitated  in   some  instances  to  break 


Translators  Preface.  ix 

up  sentences  or  transpose  clauses,  even  when  the 
taking  of  such  liberties  was  not  strictly  necessary, 
and  I  have  allowed  myself  occasionally  to  soften  the 
harshness  of  what  seemed  an  un-English  expression 
by  means  of  an  apologetic  so  to  spealc.  I  have  not 
been  able  to  avoid  a  certain  appearance  of  arbitrari- 
ness in  the  use  of  capital  and  small  initials,  par- 
ticularly in  the  case  of  the  words  kingdom  and 
theocracy  and  related  words.  I  have  tried  to  re- 
serve the  capital  initial  for  the  ideal  as  distinguished 
from  the  historical  sense  of  these  words ;  but  in  many 
instances  the  two  senses  manifestly  tend  to  coincide. 
The  words  holy  land  are  v/ritten  with  small  initials, 
except  where  the  expression  seems  to  be  used  in  its 
modern  geographical  sense.  Tlie  word  Urkcmiiniss — 
particularly  the  plural  form — is  notoriously  a  stumb- 
ling-block to  translators  from  German.  Probably  I 
ought  to  have  adopted  Professor  Davidson's  suggestion 
to  render  it,  wherever  possible,  by  truths ;  but  the 
plea  of  greater  accuracy  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to 
cover  the  occasional  offence  of  apprehensions  or  even 
cognitions.  The  same  excuse  may  be  pled  for  envisage, 
envisaging  form  (veranschaulichen,  Anschauungsform). 
The  use  of  content  for  Inhalt  does  not  now  need 
an  apology,  but  some  readers  may  need  to  be  re- 
minded that  German  writers  use  the  word  Moment 
in  the  philosophical  sense  of  a  stage  in  a  process  of 
thinking  or  an  element  of  a  inental  conceptio7i,  and 
that  the  practice  of  English  philosophical  writers 
may  now  be  said  to  have  sanctioned  its  use  in  that 


X  Translators  Preface. 

sense  in  our  language.  Would  not  a  better  plan, 
however,  have  been  the  use  of  the  Latin  form  of  the 
word  (see  p.  322)  ? 

I  trust  the  Appendices  will  be  found  useful.  The 
Index  of  Scripture  Citations  has  been  constructed 
so  as  to  enable  the  reader  to  discover  without  loss 
of  time  what  Riehm  may  have  to  say  on  a  particular 
passage. 

In  connection  with  the  collection  of  material  for 
the  list  of  modern  works  on  the  Messianic  Hope,  I 
have  to  express  my  thanks  to  Mr.  T.  E.  Sandeman, 
New  College,  Edinburgh,  and  to  Mr.  Kennedy,  the 
librarian,  as  well  as  to  Professor  Davidson  and  the 
publishers.  But  my  greatest  thanks  in  this  reference 
are  due  to  Dr.  P.  Schmiedel,  Jena,  who  furnished  me 
with  a  very  complete  list  of  the  works  of  importance — 
dealing  either  in  part  or  whole  with  the  subject,  or 
some  aspect  of  it — that  have  appeared  since  1886. 
I  have  not  attempted  to  include  Commentaries  in  this 
list ;  but,  if  any  exception  to  this  rule  had  been  con- 
ceded, it  would  have  been  made  most  willingly  in 
favour  of  Mr.  G.  A.  Smith's  able  homiletic  work  on 
Isaiah  (London :  Hodder  &  Stoughton),  both  volumes 
of  which — particularly  vol.  ii.  in  the  chapters  dealing 
with  the  Servant  of  the  Lord — deserve  no  less  grateful 
recognition  from  the  fact  that  Mr.  Smith's  views  re- 
jzardinfj  the  Servant  do  not  altogether  coincide  with 
those  here  advocated. 

Ea.st  Wemyss,  Fihruarij  1891. 


INTRODUCTION 

BY  PROFESSOR  A.  B.  DAVIDSON,  D.D. 


THE  translator  and  publishers  have  done  a  lasting 
service  to  students  of  the  Old  Testament  by 
brinffine  out  this  new  edition  of  liiehm's  Messianic 
Prophecy.  No  work  of  the  same  compass  could  be 
named  that  contains  so  much  that  is  instructive  on 
the  nature  of  prophecy  in  general,  and  particularly 
on  the  branch  of  it  specially  treated  in  the  book. 
Some  readers  may  not  agree  with  Eiehm  in  all  the 
positions  which  he  holds;  but  there  is  no  one  who 
will  refuse  to  acknowledge  the  thoughtfulness,  the 
fairness  and  candour,  and  the  reverential  spirit  of  the 
writer. 

Perhaps  the  author  has  spent  too  much  time  in 
coming  to  terms  with  Hengstenberg  and  Konig  on 
the  nature  of  the  prophetic  inspiration.  But  the 
conclusion  which  he  reaches  is  an  important  one, 
namely,  that  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  oracles  of 
the  canonical  prophets  were  received  in  Vision,  or  in 
any   condition   to  be   strictly  called  ecstasy.      Eiehm 


xii  Introduction. 

holds  strongly  that  the  progress  of  Eevelation  was 
organic,  and  in  all  cases,  as  he  terms  it,  "  psycho- 
logically mediated ; "  in  other  words,  that  essential 
steps  towards  any  revelation  that  might  be  called 
new,  or  an  advance  on  that  already  in  existence, 
were  the  operation  of  the  prophet's  mind  on  truth 
already  known,  and  tlie  influence  upon  him  of  the 
circumstances  around  him.  The  theory  of  Vision 
lias  been  thought  necessary  to  account  for  the  remark- 
able fact  that  all  the  prophets  represent  the  con- 
summation and  perfect  condition  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  as  at  hand,  and  bring  it  close  up  upon  the  back 
of  the  great  events  transacting  in  tlieir  own  day — 
the  early  chapters  of  Isaiah,  for  example,  placing  it 
close  behind  the  Assyrian  devastations  ;  and  the  later 
chapters,  immediately  on  the  back  of  the  downfall  of 
Babylon  before  Cyrus.  Many  writers  describe  this 
peculiarity  of  prophecy  by  the  word  ixrspectivc,  and 
appear  to  think  that  they  have  explained  it,  whereas 
they  have  only  called  by  another  name  the  thing 
requiring  explanation.  Eiehm  appears  to  think  that 
a  sufficient  explanation  of  the  peculiarity  is  to  be 
found  in  the  earnest  expectation  of  the  prophets,  in 
their  ardent  hopes  of  the  speedy  fulfilment  of  God's 
promises,  and  of  the  revelation  of  His  glory  to  all 
ilesh.  This  hope  and  fervent  desire,  acting  on  the 
imagination  of  the  prophets,  brought  the  consumma- 
tion so  vividly  before  them,  that  they  represent  it  as 
at  hand,  and  the  issue  of  the  great  events  taking 
place  around  them.      There  is  an  element  of  truth  in 


Introduction.  xiii 

this  view,  though  hardly  enough  to  explain  the 
phenomena.  The  important  thing,  however,  in  read- 
ing prophecy,  is  to  recognise  the  facts,  even  if  the 
explanation  be  obscure  ;  and  no  fact  is  more  certain 
or  more  necessary  to  be  kept  in  view  than  this. 

Another  point  which  Eiehm  greatly  insists  upon 
is,  that  in  interpreting  any  particular  prophecy,  the 
right  question  to  put  in  the  first  instance  is,  What 
did  the  prophet  mean  ?  and  what  did  he  desire  those 
to  whom  he  spoke  to  understand  ?  Such  a  question 
as,  What  did  the  Spirit  mean  ?  or.  What  did  God 
mean,  is  not  to  be  put  at  least  in  the  first  instance. 
Eiehm  recognises  the  propriety  of  the  latter  question 
in  certain  circumstances.  The  difference  between  the 
two  questions  (when  they  are  not  identical)  is,  that 
while  the  first  relates  to  the  particular  part  considered 
in  itself,  the  second  relates  to  the  part  considered  as  an 
element  in  a  great  whole.  There  is  a  difference  between 
the  comprehension  of  the  workmen  and  that  of  the 
architect.  While  the  individual  workman,  who  polishes 
a  foundation,  or  wreathes  a  pillar,  may  have  perlect 
comprehension  of  the  piece  of  work  he  is  engaged 
upon,  and  be  full  of  enthusiasm  in  the  execution  of 
it,  he  may  not  be  able  to  see  the  place  it  will  hold 
in  the  completed  fabric,  or  the  greater  meaning  which 
may  accrue  to  it  from  the  whole.  Obviously  this 
can  be  perceived  only  when  the  fabric  is  reared.  The 
question,  therefore.  What  did  the  Spirit  mean  ?  is 
one  that  can  be  answered  only  from  the  point  of 
view   of  a   completed   revelation.      But   the  historical 


xiv  Introduction. 

interpreter  assumes  that  tlie  revelation  was  pro- 
gressive, and  his  endeavour  is  to  tlirow  himself  back 
into  the  historical  movement,  and  trace  how  truth 
after  truth  was  reached  by  the  prophets  and  people 
of  Israel.  This  truth  was  no  truth  till  it  took  form 
in  the  mind  of  the  prophet,  and  hence  the  interpreter 
asks  on  each  occasion,  What  did  the  prophet  mean  ? 
When  this  question  has  been  answered  in  each  case 
down  through  the  whole  development,  it  ma}''  be 
profoundly  instructive  to  look  at  any  or  each  of  the 
particulars  in  the  light  of  the  whole. 

It  is  when  Riehm  reaches  the  positive  part  of  his 
investigation  that  his  work  becomes  most  interesting 
—  wlien,  for  example,  he  draws  attention  to  the 
elements  of  a  prophetic  kind  that  lay  in  the  very 
fundamental  conceptions  of  the  Old  Testament  religion, 
such  a  conception  as  that  of  a  covenant  of  God  with 
a  people  to  be  their  God,  that  of  a  theocracy  or 
kingdom  of  God  upon  the  earth,  or  that  of  prophecy, 
men  brought  into  the  counsel  of  God  and  filled  with 
His  Spirit.  These  mere  conceptions,  and  many  others 
like  them,  were  prophetic  of  a  perfect  future ;  they 
were  so  in  a  positive  way,  and  they  became  even 
more  so  from  the  feeling  of  contradiction  between 
the  idea  suggested  and  the  small  degree  in  which  it 
had  at  any  time  been  realised.  Even  the  inherent 
imperfections  of  the  Old  Testament  dispensation  were 
prophetic  of  their  own  removal.  Prophecy  was  to  a 
large  extent  idealism,  it  transfigured  institutions  and 
history,  and  disengaged  from  them  the  religious  ideal, 


Introduction.  xv 

holding  it  up  before  men  as  a  thing  certain  to  be 
attained  in  the  future,  though  only  by  being  earnestly 
striven  after.  The  organic  connection  of  prophecy 
with  history  has  been  illustrated  by  Eiehm  with  a 
wealth  of  examples  exceeding  anything  hitherto  done 
by  others. 

The  term  Messianic  is  used  in  a  wider  and  a 
narrower  sense.  In  the  wider  sense  it  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  all  that  relates  to  the  consummation  and 
perfection  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  a  use  not  altogether 
appropriate  or  exact.  In  the  narrower  sense  it  refers 
to  a  personage  who  is,  not  always,  but  often,  a  com- 
manding figure  in  this  perfect  condition  of  the 
Kingdom.  Many  questions  rise  at  this  point  for 
discussion,  some  of  which  Eiehm  touches  only  in- 
directly perliaps,  such  as  the  question  whether  there 
be  in  the  Old  Testament  a  Messianic  hope  in  the 
narrower  sense  as  a  distinct  thing,  or  whether  it  be 
not  always  a  subordinate  element  in  the  larger  hope 
of  the  perfection  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The 
question  has  its  justification  in  the  fact  that  the 
great  personage  spoken  of  is  the  glorified  reflection 
sometimes  of  one  officer  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
sometimes  of  another ;  and  that  in  the  several  pro- 
phets, one  after  another,  he  is  the  reflection  of  the 
officer  that  has  the  highest  religious  significance  at 
the  several  periods  when  they  wrote.  During  the 
monarchy  he  is  the  idealised  theocratic  king ;  after 
the  Eestoration,  when  the  priest  rose  to  eminence  in 
the   community,  he  is   the   glorified  Priest.      During 


xvi  Introduction. 

the  exile  he  disappears,  and  his  place  is  taken  by 
an  idea,  which  the  powerful  religious  genius  of  the 
prophet  of  the  exile  (Isa.  xl.  seq.)  has  given  body  to, 
and  made  a  person,  the  idea,  namely,  that  the  truth 
of  the  true  God  has  been  given  to  Israel,  that  this 
truth  is  incarnated  in  Israel,  and  thus  has  arisen  a 
Being  who  is  indestructible,  an  Israel  which  has 
existed  all  through  the  history  of  the  outward  Israel, 
and  will  continue  to  exist;  a  vital  heart  in  Israel 
which  will  yet  send  its  living  pulses  even  to  Israel's 
extremities,  and  through  Israel  will  become  the  life 
and  light  of  the  Gentiles.  How  profoundly  Christian, 
if  not  strictly  Messianic,  this  idea  is,  need  not  be  said. 
At  all  times  the  Saviour  is  Jehovah,  and  if  the  great 
personage  whom  we  call  the  Messiah  play  any  part 
in  salvation,  whatever  his  role  be,  king  or  priest,  it  is 
the  divine  in  him  that  is  the  saving  power.  The 
theocratic  king  is  the  representative  of  Jehovah,  the 
true  King  and  Saviour.  "What  must  he  be  to  truly 
represent  Him,  and  what  will  he  be  when  he  does  so  ? 
Nothing  less  than  the  manifestation  of  Jehovah  Him- 
self in  all  His  saving  attributes  (Isa.  ix.,  xi.).  This 
point  is  perhaps  hardly  elaborated  in  Eiehra  with 
sufficient  fulness. 

Finally,  in  the  last  section  of  his  work,  devoted  to 
the  question  of  Fullilment,  and  distinguished  by 
candour  and  thoughtfulness,  Eiehra  insists  much  on 
the  distinction  between  Prophecy  and  Fulfilment. 
The  two  must  be  kept  sedulously  apart.  Prophecy  is 
what  the  prophet,  in  his  age  and  circumstances  and 


Introduction.  xvii 

dispensation,  meant ;  Fulfilment  is  the  form  in  which 
his  great  religious  conceptions  will  gain  validity  in 
other  ages,  in  different  circumstances,  and  under 
another  dispensation.  Certain  elements,  therefore,  of 
the  relative,  the  circumstantial,  and  the  dispensational 
must  he  stripped  away  and  not  expected  to  go  into 
fulfilment.  Every  prophet  speaks  of  the  perfection  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  looks  for  it,  and  constructs  an 
ideal  of  it.  We  are  still  looking  for  it.  The  funda- 
mental conceptions  in  these  constructions  are  always 
the  same, — the  presence  of  God  with  men,  righteousness, 
peace,  and  the  like, — but  the  fabrics  reared  by  different 
prophets  differ.  They  differ  because  each  prophet 
seeing  the  perfect  future  issue  out  of  the  movements 
and  conditions  of  his  own  present  time  constructs  his 
ideal  of  the  new  world  out  of  the  materials  lying 
around  him :  the  state  of  his  people ;  the  condition  of 
the  heathen  world  in  his  day ;  such  facts  as  that  the 
Kingdom  of  God  had  a  form  as  a  state,  and  that  the 
centre  of  Jehovah's  rule  was  Zion.  These  relative 
elements  are  not  called  figurative,  they  are  essential 
parts  of  the  prophet's  conceptions.  But  if  we  inquire 
how  far  the  prophet's  ideal  of  the  perfect  Kingdom  of 
God  may  be  expected  to  be  realised,  obviously  these 
relative  elements  in  it  will  have  to  be  stripped  away, 
and  fulfilment  looked  for  only  to  the  essential  religious 
conceptions.  It  would  be  far  from  the  truth,  how- 
ever, to  fancy  that  the  relative  and  concrete  form  in 
which  the  prophet  embodies  his  eternal  truths  has 
lost  all  significance  to  us.     It  is  of  the  utmost  signifi- 

h 


xviii  Introductio7i. 

cance ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  it  brings  Lome  to  us 
better  than  anything  else  the  reality  of  the  religion 
and  the  religious  life  in  the  Old  Testament  times,  for 
obviously  if  the  Prophecies  had  had  us  in  view  they 
would  have  taken  another  form ;  and  secondly,  the 
concrete  embodiment  of  the  prophetic  truth  helps  us 
to  realise  the  truth ;  we  see  the  situation,  and  can 
transport  ourselves  into  it,  and  live  over  again  the  life 
of  men  in  former  days.  There  is  little  in  the  Old 
Testament  of  which  it  can  be  said  that  it  is  antiquated. 
The  translator  appears  to  have  done  his  work  well. 
His  rendering  is  vigorous  and  readable.  Perhaps  he 
is  a  little  too  partial  to  the  use  of  the  technical  terms 
of  philosophy.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  language 
which  "  wives  and  wabsters "  speak  is  capable  of 
expressing  everything  which  any  reasonable  man  can 
desire  to  say  to  his  fellows. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION, 1 

FIEST  PART. 

The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy, 14 

1.  (a)  Its  Origin  in  Revelation,  ......  14 

(6)  TheModeof  Revealed  Communication  to  the  Prophets,  19 
(c)  The  Organico-Genetic  Connection  of  Prophecy  M'ith 

the  Root-Ideas  of  Old  Testament  Religion,     .         .  59 

2.  (a)  The  Idea  of  the  Covenant,  .....  66 
(6)  The  Idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  ....  88 
(c)  The  Idea  of  the  Theocratic  Kingship,         .         .         .  101 


SECOND  PART. 


-Its 


124 
125 
133 
133 

142 
153 


The  Historical  Character   of   Messianic   Prophecy 

Adaptation  to  the  Times,        .... 
The  Fact  and  the  Reasons  of  its  Manifold  Form, 

1.  Its  Times-Colouring,  ..... 

(ft)  Resulting  from  its  Destination, 

(6)  And  its  Origin,  in  particular,  the  Limits  of  the  Pro 

phetic  Prospect,     ..... 
(c)  Proof-References,       ..... 

2.  The  yet  deeper  Influence  of  the  circumstances  of  the  Relative 

Times  upon  the  Content  of  Messianic  Prophecy,         .     175 

(a)  Their  Influence  upon  the  Unfolding  of  the  Separate 

Germs  of  Messianic  Apprehension,  ,         .         ,     176 

Proved  in  the  case   of  the  Prophecy  regarding  the 

Messias, .     179 

And  of  other  Elements  in  Messianic  Prophecy,  .     194 

(b)  The  Parallelism  between  the  course  of  the  History  of 

the   Kingdom   of    God   and   the    Development   of 
Messianic  Prophecy,       ......     203 


XX  Contends. 


THIRD  PART. 

TiiK  Kki.ation  of  Messianic  Proviikcv  to  New  Testament 
Fulfilment, 

1.  Its  Times-borrowed  Features,      ..... 

2.  Its  specifually  Old  Testament  Features,     . 

3.  Tlie  01(1  Testament  Envisaging  Forms  still  aillieiiiig  to  all 

Messianic  Prophecies,  in  particular,     . 
(a)  Jerusalem,  the  City  of  God,      .... 
{b)  Israel's  Central  Position  in  the  Kingdom  of  tjod, 

•J.  The  Measure  of  Apprehension  of  God's  Saving  Purpose  ex 
hibited  by  Messianic  Prophecy,   .... 

(a)  In  relation  to  the  Final  State  of  the  People  and  King 
dom  of  Cod,  ...... 

(ft)  In  relation  to  the  Mediation  of  Salvation,  in  particular 

the  Person  of  the  Messias, 
(<■)  In  relation  to  the  Jlessianic  Work  of  Salvation, 
(d)  In  relation  to  the  Conditions  and  Historical  Course  of 

the  Realisation  of  Salvation,  ....     288 

5.  The  ultimate  Reference  to  Christ  of  all  Messianic  Prophecy 

in  the  Scheme  of  Historical  Revelation  and  Salvation,     296 

6.  The  Coincidence  of  Prophecy  and  Fulfilment  in  Individual 

Concrete-Historical  Features,     .  .         .         .         .310 

7.  The  Fulfilment  of  Messianic  Prophecy  in  the  Church  and 

Kingdom  of  Christ,      .......     313 

Concluding  Remarks, 318 


217 
219 

228 

234 
235 
238 

271 


278 
283 


ADDITIONS  BY  TRANSLATOR. 

Appendices. 

A.  Notes, 325 

Ji.  Index  to  Scripture  Passages  cited  by  Riehm,  and  to  his  other 

references  to  Ancient  Literature,       .....     330 

C.  List  of  Modern  Works  referred  to  by  Riehm,  ...         .     341 

D.  Recent  Literature  on  Messianic  Prophecy,  or  on  the  growtli 

of  the  Messianic  idea  in  Jewish  History,  ....     345 


INTRODUCTION, 


TN  this  work  we  use  the  phrase  Messianic  prophecy 
-*-  in  its  wider  sense,  understanding  by  it  all  the 
Old  Testament  promises  of  the  final  accomplishment 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  the  consequent  glorifi- 
cation of  His  people.  Messianic  prophecy  in  the 
narrower  sense  (the  prophecy,  viz.,  of  an  ideal  theocratic 
king  of  the  house  of  David,  with  whose  appearance  is 
associated  the  inauguration  of  the  last  time)  cannot  be 
made  an  object  of  separate  investigation,  because  its 
growth  is  intimately  connected  with  that  of  the  more 
universal  promise.  It  is,  moreover,  axiomatic  with  us 
as  Christian  theologians  that  the  entire  body  of  Old 
Testament  promise,  relating  to  the  last  times,  finds  its 
fulfilment  in  and  through  Christ ;  and  when  we  appro- 
priate for  the  phrase  Messianic  prophecy  the  wider 
sense  that  has  now  become  common,  it  is  only  our 
way  of  expressing  this  fundamental  conviction. 

No  special  proof  is  needed,  that  what  we  thus  de- 
scribe as  axiomatic  is  repeatedly  attested  in  the  most 
emphatic  way  by  Christ  and  the  apostles.  Every  one 
remembers  the  sayings  of  Christ :  that  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  Covenant  testify  of  Him  (John  5.  39) ;  that 


2  Messianic  Prophcnj. 

His  sufferings  and  death,  His  resurrection  and  glorifica- 
tion, were  preannounced  in  tlie  law  of  Moses,  in  the 
prophets,  and  the  psalms  (Luke  24.  44  ff.);  that  what 
was  written  of  Him  must  be  fulfilled  (Matt.  26.  54, 
Luke  22.  37);  that  the  Scripture  could  not  be  broken 
(John  10.  35),  and  others  of  like  import.  Every  one 
knows  how  the  apostles  invariably  start  with  the  proof 
that  what  God  had  foretold  by  the  mouth  of  all  His 
prophets  had  been  fulfilled  in  the  appearance,  the  career, 
tlie  work  of  Christ — in  the  salvation  He  brought,  in 
the  Kingdom  Lie  founded ;  how,  in  particular,  even 
Paul  attests  that  God  had  "  promised  afore  "  by  His 
prophets  the  gospel  of  His  Son  (Rom.  1.  2),  and  that 
all  the  promises  of  God  are  "yea  and  amen"  in  Christ 
(2  Cor.  1.  20).  The  minuter  study  of  the  views  of 
the  New  Testament  writers  has  tended  to  set  only  in 
clearer  relief  the  fundamental  importance  which  they 
attach  to  the  conviction  that  the  New  Covenant  is  the 
accomplishment  of  the  Old,  and  tlie  fulfilment  of  its 
prophecies.  It  has  shown,  in  particular,  that  even  in 
its  most  developed  phases  the  apostolic  doctrine  of  the 
person  and  work  of  Christ  finds  its  basis  and  starting- 
point  in  the  belief  that  Jesus  is  the  promised  Messias 
of  the  Old  Covenant.^ 

Even  the  Old  Testament,  moreover,  is  not  behind- 
hand in  attesting  the  justification  of  this  assumption. 
It  attests  it  in  so  far  as  Messianic  prophecy  points 

^  Cp.  in  regard  to  the  Johanniiie  Cliristology  my  remarks  in 
Stndien  u.  Kritiken,  18()4,  pp.  552  IF.,  ami  A.  H.  Frank K,  X>«.s  Alte 
Testament  bet  Johannes,  1885,  pp.  166  i\. 


Introduction.  3 

expressly  beyond  the  Old  Covenant  itself.  For  it  not 
only  announces  the  extension  of  the  original  purely 
Israelitish  theocracy  to  a  universal  Kingdom  of  God, 
embracing  all  peoples ;  it  indicates  also  with  perfect 
definiteness  that  in  the  last  days  there  will  occur  a 
thorough  imoard  transformation  of  the  existing  theo- 
cracy, and  a  substantial  alteration  in  the  character  of 
the  covenant-fellowship  between  God  and  His  people. 
Then  there  will  be  no  place  either  for  Levitical  priest 
or  official  prophet,  for  Israel  will  be  a  nation  of  priests 
(Isa.  61.  6),  and  will  be  furnished  with  the  gift  of 
prophecy  (Joel  2.  28  f.) ;  all  without  distinction  shall 
know  the  LOKD  and  be  taught  of  Him,  so  that  none 
shall  need  instruction  from  another  (Jer.  31.  34, 
Isa.  54.  13).  The  law  shall  not  be  written  on  tables 
of  stone,  but  on  the  heart  (Jer.  31.  33).  The  ark  of 
the  covenant  will  be  forgotten,  for  the  gracious  pre- 
sence of  God  with  His  people  will  no  longer  be  a  mere 
dwelling  in  the  inner  shrine  of  the  temple.  Eather 
shall  all  Jerusalem  be  called  the  "  Throne  of  the 
LOED,"  It  will  be  the  place  of  His  dwelling  and 
His  revelation.  There  the  tribes  of  Israel  will  be 
assembled  about  their  God  ;  thither  also  the  Gentiles 
will  come  up  (Jer.  3.  17).  The  whole  economy  of 
the  Covenant  will  be  different.  God  will  make  a  new 
covenant  with  His  people,  different  from  the  covenant 
made  with  their  fathers  at  Sinai  (Jer.  31.  31  ff.). 
And  all  this  will  result  from  one  grand  and  final  deed 
of  salvation — a  full  revelation  of  grace,  which  shall  at 
once  crown  all  previous  revelations  and  put  them  in 


4  Messianic  Prophecy. 

tlie  shade  (Jer.  IG.  14  f.,  23.  7  f.,  Isa.  43.  IG  ff.).— 
Who  can  deny  tliat  the  goal,  which  Old  Testament 
prophecy  has  in  view,  while  it  lies  thus  obviously 
beyond  the  limits  of  the  Old  Covenant,  is  none  other 
than  that  which,  in  accordance  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  history,  and  the  personal  experience  of  every 
true  Christian,  is  attained,  and  is  ever  more  attained,  in 
and  through  Christ  ?  For  surely  all  such  transcendent 
visions  in  the  Old  Testament  point  ultimately  to  a 
Last  Time,  in  wdiich  for  all  the  individual  members  of 
the  unlimited  Theocracy  fellowship  with  God  shall  be 
perfect  through  the  complete  remission  of  sins  and  the 
universal  outpouring  of  the  Spirit. 

The  general  proposition,  that  all  the  promises  of 
God  are  yea  and  amen  in  Christ,  must,  however,  be 
more  accurately  defined.  The  relation  of  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy  to  New  Testament  fulfilment  requires 
a  minuter  investigation.  The  time  is  past  when  a 
doffmatisintf  exegesis  could  find  the  whole  sense  of 
New  Testament  assurance  expressed  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment— only  with  less  distinctness,  and  under  cover  of 
various  emblems  and  types.  The  right  and  the  duty  of 
a  strictly  historical  consideration  and  exposition  of  the 
Old  Testament  have  gained  a  wider  recognition.  At 
the  same  time,  and  partly  as  the  result  of  the  Chris- 
tology  of  Hengstenberg,  the  conviction  from  which 
we  started  has  asserted  itself  with  fresh  force  and 
in  ever-widening  circles  as  the  inalienable  possession 
of  Christian  faith.  How  does  the  strictly  historical 
exposition  of  the  Old  Testament  harmonise  with  this 


Tntroduclion.  5 

conviction  ?  Does  it  not  look  as  if  it  undermined  it, 
or  at  least  considerably  loosened  the  bond  which,  in 
the  correspondence  of  prophecy  with  fulfilment,  con- 
nects the  Old  Testament  with  the  New  ?  Modern 
theological  science  has  to  seek  a  new  and  satisfying 
answer  to  the  question  :  In  what  way  and  in  what 
measure  did  Old  Testament  prophecy  promise  afore, 
(Eom.  1.  2)  the  gospel  of  God  concerning  His  Son, 
This  is  undoubtedly  an  important  task.  For,  accord- 
ing to  what  we  have  noted  above,  we  are  concerned 
to  know  whether  and  in  what  way  Christ's  conscious- 
ness of  the  relation  of  His  vocation  and  work  to  the 
whole  course  of  previous  revelation  can  lay  claim  to 
historical  justification  and  foundation.  What  insight 
may  we  have  into  the  wonderful  ways  the  wisdom  of 
God  has  used  in  the  education  of  men — of  Israel  in 
particular ;  ways,  whose  goal  was  Jesus  Christ  ?  On 
our  answer  to  this  question  must  depend  in  no  small 
degree  the  measure  of  importance  which  we  Christians 
may  attach  to  Old  Testament  Scripture. 

These  pages  aim  at  contributing  to  the  solution  of 
this  problem.  They  do  not  contain  an  exhaustive 
treatment  of  Messianic  prophecy.  But  they  may 
perhaps  claim  to  be  a  consecutive  exposition  of  the 
three  points  which  are  of  first  importance  in  a  synopsis 
of  the  subject. 

To  arrive  at  a  true  view  of  the  relation  of  prophecy, 
to   fulfilment,  one   must   start    on   the   right   road  in 
ascertaining   the   contents   of  prophecy.       This   is  not 
done  by  those  whose  main  or  only  question  is  :  What 


6  Messianic  Prophecy. 

did  God  or  the  Spirit  of  God  intend  to  say  in  a 
l)rophecy,  and  who  do  not  trouble  themselves  to  ascer- 
tain the  sense  which  the  proi^hcts  attached  to  their 
own  utterances,  and  in  which  they  wished  them  to  be 
understood  by  their  contemporaries.'  How,  let  us 
ask,  is  the  sense  which  God  or  the  Spirit  of  God 
intended  in  a  prophecy  sought  and  found  ?  The 
answer  is :  We  must  look  backwards,  we  must  see 
the  propliecy  in  the  light  that  fulls  upon  it  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  fulfilment.  We  are  far  from 
condemning  wholesale  this  way  of  regarding  Old 
Testament  prophecy.  In  the  purely  practical  and 
religious  use  of  the  Old  Testament  it  is  both  right 
and  necessary.  For  here  the  only  essential  point  is  to 
ascertain  what  prophecy  says  to  v.s,  and  there  is  no 
offence  to  science  if  by  means  of  our  fuller  New 
Testament  assurance  the  buds  of  Old  Testament 
promise  are  made  to  unfold  themselves,  or  if  by  the 
same  means  the  bare  outline  is  converted  into  the 
clearly  coloured   picture.      Even  in  scientific  investi- 

'  Cp.  Hkxostenbeuo,  Chrhfoloffie,  2iul  ed.  iii.  2,  p.  204:  "The  two 
(luestioiis  must  be  carefully  distinguished — what  sense  the  prophets 
attached  to  their  own  utterances,  and  what  God  intended  in  these  utter- 
ances. .  .  .  On  our  present  method  the  answer  to  the  former  question 
cannot  be  found,  and  is  not  for  w.s  of  ijreaf  importance."  In  Heng- 
stenberg's  case  this  disregard  of  history  results  from  his  general  view 
of  piophecy.  If  the  projjhet's  onl}' business  is  to  describe  the  picture 
which  ( ;od  has  shown  him  in  a  state  of  ecstasy,  and  if  the  ju-ophecy  is 
contained  only  in  tliis  picture  which — even  though  the  jirophet's  own 
spirit  was  allowed  to  ])articipate  in  its  prodiiction — is  yet  substantially 
only  the  work  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  it  cannot,  of  course,  matter  much 
whether  and  in  what  degree  tlie  prophet  liimself  apprehended  its 
significance,  or  what  sense  he  attached  to  his  own  words. 


Introduction.  7 

gation  this  method  has  its  place.  In  our  present 
inquiry  it  is  specially  requisite,  for  our  task  is  to  deter- 
mine the  pw'port  of  individual  utterances  considered  as 
members  of  the  entire  developing  hody  of  Old  Testament 
prophecy.  It  certainly  cannot  be  denied  that  it  is 
only  when  we  survey  the  whole  body  of  Old  Testament 
prophecy,  with  its  many  members,  and  in  the  progress 
of  its  historical  development,  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  accomplishment  of  God's  saving  purpose  in 
Christ,  .that  the  teleological  significance  of  each  in- 
dividual prophecy  can  be  fully  recognised.  But  to 
ascertain  the  direction  in  which  the  contents  of  a 
prophecy  relate  themselves  to  its  fulfilment,  while  it 
determines  an  important  'relation  of  the  prophecy, 
gives  no  sufficient  explanation  of  the  prophecy  itself. 
For  what  can  he  recognised  only  in  the  time  of  fulfil- 
ment is  precisely  what  is  not  contained  in  the  prophecy'^ 
itself  A  definition  of  the  contents  of  a  prophecy 
can  include  only  the  sense — albeit  the  full  sense — 
in  which  at  the  time  of  its  utterance  the  prophecy 
could  be  understood,  and  was  necessarily  understood. 

From  this  sense  must  not  be  omitted  what  the 
prophet  apprehended  only  in  vague  presentiment, 
without  clear  consciousness.  This  presentiment  be- 
longs to  the  contents  of  the  prophecy — of  course, 
however,  only  in  the  vagueness  characteristic  of  all 
mere  presentiment.  On  the  other  hand,  to  represent 
the  fuller  meanings  that  in  the  light  of  New  Testament 
fulfilment  came  to  be  attached  to  a  prophecy,  in  virtue 
of  its  ultimate  reference  to  Christ  in  the  Divinely-laid 


8  Messianic  Trcrphccy. 

]»liin  of  historical  revelation,  as  its  proper,  true,  and 
Divinely-intended  sense,  only  breeds  confusion  ;  but 
if  we  are  determined  to  retain  this  mode  of  expression, 
we  must  at  least  take  care  not  to  reckon  the  Divinely- 
intended  sense  as  part  of  the  actual  contents  of  the 
prophecy,  when  it  is  our  express  object  to  deter- 
mine the  relation  of  the  prophecy  to  its  fulfil- 
ment. To  refuse  to  distinguish  clearly  at  the  outset 
between  prophecy  and  fulfilment,  by  putting  into  the 
former  a  meaning  that  can  be  recognised  only  by 
means  of  the  latter,  is  to  renounce  all  pretension  to 
an  exact  knowledge  of  the  state  of  the  case.  It 
means  that  we  intcriiret  prophecy  more  or  less  in 
reference  to  fitljilment,  and  tend  thus  to  reduce  our 
problem  to  the  absurd  one  of  determining  the  relation 
of  prophecy  to  a  fulfilment,  in  whose  light  it  has 
already  been  interpreted.  Much  of  the  dissension 
existing  between  those  who  lay  the  main  stress  on 
the  agreement  between  prophecy  and  fulfilment,  and 
those  who  emphasise  principally  the  historical  charac- 
ter of  prophecy,  rests  solely  upon  the  fact  that  the 
former  have  missed  the  proper  statement  of  the 
question,  and  have  not  kept  in  view  with  sufficient 
clearness  and  precision  the  only  relevant  problem. 
Hence :  The  significance  which  a  prophecy  receives 
only  when  it  is  looked  at  in  the  light  thrown  back 
upon  it  by  its  fulfilment,  and  the  sense  in  which 
tlie  prophets  themselves  understood  their  utterances, 
and  intended  tliem  to  be  understood  by  their  contem- 
poraries, —  in    other    words,    the    historiccd    sense    of 


Introduction.  <  9 

prophecy, — must  be  clearly  distinguished.  Only  the 
latter  is  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  word  the  content 
of  the  prophecy.  Hence  it  only  can  be  taken  into 
account  when  we  have  to  determine  the  relation  of 
the  prophecy,  as  such,  to  the  fulfilment.  It  is  there- 
fore not  only  not  of  small,  but  of  the  very  greatest 
importance.  For  apart  from  it  a  scientific  solution  of 
our  problem  is  axiomatically  impossible.^ 

-  It  is  a  pleasing  sign  of  an  incipient  mutual  understanding  between 
opposite  tendencies  of  thought  in  the  Ohl  Testament  field,  that  the 
correctness  of  the  above  propositions  has  been  substantially  acknow- 
ledged by  a  theologian  of  the  school  of  Hengstenberg — viz.  Dr.  KtJPER, 
in  his  work,  entitled  Das  Prophetenthum  des  Alten  Bundes  (Leipzig 
1870,  pp.  89  ff.).  Instead,  however,  of  distinguishing  between  the 
contents  of  prophecy  and  its  goal  in  the  historical  revelation  of  grace 
(or  its  significance  as  a  member  of  the  total  organic  series  of  Old 
Testament  prophecies),  he  prefers  to  distinguish  between  the  historical 
sense,  to  be  ascertained  by  exegesis,  and  the  contents  of  the  prophecy, 
assigning  to  the  latter  the  above-mentioned  ultimate  reference  or 
<joal.  Such  a  procedure  serves  rather  the  interest  of  his  peculiar  view 
of  prophecy  as  something  objectively  given  by  the  Spirit  of  God — and 
therefore  to  be  distbigtiished  an  much  as  jjossible  from,  the  subjective 
consciousness  of  the  prophet — than  that  of  clear  scientific  knowledge. 
A  clear  and  precise  meaning  can  be  attached  to  the  expression  contents 
only  when  it  is  made  "wholly  synonymous"  with  the  historical  sense. 
Kiiper  is,  of  course,  right  in  saying  that  the  prophets  are  conscious  of 
annoiinciug  secrets  which  reach  beyond  the  limits  of  their  own  com- 
prehension (although  the  passages  cited  by  him,  Jer.  33.  3,  Dan.  9.  22, 
Zech.  4,  Hab.  2.  1  tf.,  imply  only  that  they  did  not  know  and  under- 
stand before  revelation  what  was  given  them  by  revelation).  Just  as 
freriuently  a  pregnant  poetic  utterance  may  contain,  besides  what  the 
jioet  himself  was  fully  conscious  of  expressing,  possibilities  of  meaning 
which  he  has  grasped  only  in  the  vagueness  of  feeling,  so  even  more 
frequently  the  oracle  of  a  prophet  encloses  a  treasure,  one  part  of  whose 
worth  he  himself  clearly  knows,  while  of  the  other  part  he  has  only  a 
vague  presentiment,  whose  content  may  nevertheless  in  time  emerge 
gradually  into  clear  consciousness.  This  must  be  so  especially  in 
visions,  where  reflection,  working  upon  a  mental  representation  firmly 
retained  by  the  memory,  elaborates  the   inner  connections  and   the 


10  Messianic  Proyliccy. 

In  what  sense  the  prophets  themselves  intended 
their  utterances  to  be  understood  by  their  contem- 
poraries   must    be    ascertained    by   an    exegesis    that 

significance  of  the  individual  features  into  reasoned  clearness.  Yet 
the  same  is  tnie  of  every  idea  of  rich  content ;  after  it  has  been  grasped 
as  a  whole,  there  conies  the  slow  process  of  clearly  apprehending  one 
hy  one  all  its  individual  moments.  Now  :  To  the  contenta  of  a 
prophecy  beloitg  undouhtedly  not  only  the  sense,  to  which  the  prophet 
has  (jiveii  dearly  conacious  expression,  but  alio  that  hii/her  and  deejjer 
meaning,  which,  so  far  as  the  projihet  is  concerned,  lurks  still  in  the 
shadowy  light  of  mere  presentiment.  T'his  latter  must,  however,  be 
reckoned  to  the  contents  of  the  projihecy  only  in  the  indefniteness, 
characteristic  of  mere  presentiment,  in  which  it  is  present  to  the 
prophet's  mind,  or  in  which,  in  proportion  to  their  receptiveness,  it 
may  be  present  to  the  minds  of  his  contemporaries.  Thiis  reckoned, 
it  hi'longs  also  to  the  historiccd  sense. 

Tiie  Object,  however  (in  the  absolute  sense),  of  revelation  and 
prophecy — i.e.  the  Decree  of  Jehorah—is  so  great  and  high,  that 
it  transcends  even  the  presentiment  of  the  prophet,  and  remains  the 
object  of  new  and  future  revelations  in  the  sense  that  the  contents  of 
tlu'se  latter  are  not  a  mere  external  addition  to  the  earlier  revelations, 
but  are  organically  developed  from  them  (see  below).  But  that 
portion  of  this  absolute  object,  which  lies  beyond  the  reach  of  even 
the  iM'oplu't's  ])resentiment,  cannot  be  reckoned  as  part  of  the  contents 
of  his  prophecy.  And  thus  a  distinction  cannot  be  made  between  the 
liistorical  sense  and  the  contents  of  a  prophecy.  In  an  explanatory  sen- 
tence (p.  72  of  his  work,  Die  alttestamentliche  Weissagung  von  dtr  Vol- 
lendung  des  Gottesreiches,  Vienna  1882)  vox  Orelli  has  acknowledged 
tlie  distinction  we  have  demanded  between  the  contents  of  a  prophecy 
and  its  goal  of  fulfilment  in  Christ  through  a  process  of  historical 
revelation:  "  \\'^e  must  take,"  he  says,  "  our  standing  ground  e»<iVe/^ 
within  the  time  of  the  origin  of  these  (prophetic)  utterances."  In  the 
same  place  he  allows  to  the  historical  fulfilment  a  "  merely  regidative 
influence"  in  the  treatment  of  prophecy.  That  he  should  see  in  our 
above  pro])ositions  "a  dualistic  partition"  of  the  contents  of  prophecy 
is  due  entirely  to  misapprehension  (cp,  my  criticism  in  Sliuiien  ttnd 
Kritiken,  1883,  pp.  8(i3  tf.).  Kven  Fr.iKD.  En.  Koxig, —Z)er  Ofi-n- 
bariingsbegrijf  des  Alten  Testaments,  2  vols.,  Leipzig  1882, — in  spite 
of  his  rigidly  supranaturalistic  view  of  the  revelations  made  to  the 
]irophets,  has  acknowledged  the  necessity  of  the  distinction  we  have 
demanded.     (Vol.  2,  pp.  385,  389.) 


Introduction.  11 

is  at  once  grammatical,  critical,  and  psychological. 
Unanimously  as  the  necessity  of  such  exegesis  is  as 
a  matter  of  principle  acknowledged  in  our  time  by  the 
representatives  of  the  most  widely  differing  stand- 
points, a  certain  anxious  timidity  not  unfrequently 
prevents  the  theologian,  who  is  a  believer  in  revela- 
tion, from  making  a  candid  acknowledgment  of  its 
results  in  particular  instances.  This  is  apt  to  be 
specially  the  case  in  the  treatment  of  those  passages 
which  have  passed  current  for  a  considerable  time  in 
the  Church  as  Messianic  prophecies,  but  to  which 
the  exegesis  of  to-day  denies  that  character.  But  it 
happens  also  in  the  discussion  of  the  question  whether 
this  or  that  really  Messianic  passage  is  or  is  not  to  be 
referred  directly  to  the  person  of  the  Messias ;  and,  in 
general,  whenever  an  attempt  is  made  to  fix  precisely 
the  prophetic  content  of  such  passages,  the  same  spirit 
is  often  enou£;h  observable.  Even  thouo'h  the  differ- 
ence  between  Old  and  New  Testament  apprehension  is 
in  principle  allowed,  a  delicacy  is  felt  in  making  the 
admission  in  any  particular  case,  that  so  little  New 
Testament  assurance  ^  should  be  contained  in  passages 
which  we  have  been  accustomed  to  cite  as  principal 
witnesses  for  the  intimate  connection  between  Old 
Testament  prophecy  and  New  Testament  fulfilment. — 
But  let  us  see  to  it  that  this  timidity  does  not  carry 
with  it  a  tendency  to  depreciate  the  germ-like  begin- 

^  [Here,  as  in  other  places,  for  the  German  Heiherkenntnl'i  (apprehen- 
sion of  salvation) — a  sutticient  but  not  strictly  accurate  eijuivalent. 
— Tr.] 


12  Messianic  Prophecy. 

iiings  of  Divine  revelation,  and  to  assume  the  unbe- 
coming position  of  critics  of  the  Divine  educative 
wisdom.  It  is  our  duty  to  get  rid  entirely  of  the  fancy 
that  we  do  justice  to  Divine  revelation  and  prophecy 
in  the  Old  Testament  only  when  we  find  our  New 
Testament  assurance  expressed  in  them.  The  principal 
reason  of  our  timidity  is  that,  in  the  desire  to  see  the 
connection  between  the  Old  and  the  Xew  Testament,  we 
confine  our  view  too  narrowly  to  individual  passages. 
He  who  in  a  temple  that  is  an  acknowledged  archi- 
tectural masterpiece  does  not  survey  the  structure  as 
a  whole,  may  easily  look  for  more  beauty  and  perfec- 
tion of  form  in  the  details  than  they  by  themselves 
really  possess,  Tlie  spectator,  however,  who  admires  the 
whole  building,  need  have  no  scruple  in  acknowledging 
the  imperfections,  in  their  isolated  character,  of  details, 
which  make  the  temple  great  and  splendid  only  by  their 
coordination  and  harmonious  articulation.  One  who," 
in  like  manner,  has  gained  an  insight  into  and  a  view 
of  the  whole  Old  Testament  economy,  and  has,  as  a 
consequence,  attained  a  full  and  clear  conviction  that 
the  Old  Covenant,  as  a  whole,  has  been  planned  with 
a  view  to  a  future  fulfilment  in  the  Xew,  and  that 
the  whole  trend  of  religious  development  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  towards  Christianity,  will,  in  the  exegesis 
of  all  particular  Messianic  passages,  without  scruple 
recognise  only  that  measure  of  knowledge  of  God's 
saving  purpose  which,  when  examined  according  to 
the  rules  of  a  strictly  historical  method  of  exegesis, 
they  are  found  really  to  contain. 


Introduction.  1 3 

It  is  not  our  intention  in  the  present  work  to  begin 
by  fixing  exegetically  the  precise  import  of  particular 
prophecies.  We  presuppose  the  results  of  exegesis. 
Our  problem,  as  that  of  those  who  have  gained  tliese 
results,  is  as  follows : — We  wish  to  understand  the 
essence  and  character  of  Messianic  prophecy  in  the 
Old  Testament,  viewed  in  its  totality  as  a  historical 
phenomenon.  We  propose  to  do  this  by  investigating 
the  relation  which  the  contents  of  particular  prophecies 
bear  to  the  prevailing  religious  standpoint  of  Israel,  to 
the  course  of  development  pursued  by  Old  Testament 
religion,  to  the  historical  events,  conditions,  and  cir- 
cumstances of  the  times  of  utterance,  and  to  the 
subjective  peculiarities  of  the  prophets  who  uttered 
them.  We  must  examine  likewise  the  mutual  rela- 
tions of  these  prophecies  to  one  another.  It  is  only 
when  we  have  gained  in  this  way  a  knowledge  of  the 
historical  character  of  Messianic  prophecy  that  we  can 
by  comparison  of  our  results  with  New  Testament 
fulfilment  obtain  a  satisfactory  answer  to  our  main 
question.  —  In  accordance  with  this  plan  our  first 
business  is  to  present,  and — so  far  as  may  appear 
necessary  in  view  of  the  labours  of  others — to  justify, 
the  results  of  our  investigation  of  the  historical 
character  of  Messianic  prophecy. 


F  T  li  S  T     P  A  r.  T. 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  MESSIANIC  PROPHECY. 

npO  attain  a  knowledj^fe  of  the  essence  and  character 
-L  of  an  historical  phenomenon,  it  is  of  first  import- 
ance that  we  go  back  to  the  beginnings  of  its  growth. 
The  first  question,  therefore,  with  which  we  are  con- 
cerned, relates  to  the  origin  of  Messianic  prophecy. 
What  is  this  origin  ?  How  did  Israel — how,  in 
particular,  did  the  prophets  arrive  at  the  idea  of  a 
Messias  ?  To  be  content  simply  to  say,  as  a  rigid 
and  soulless  supernaturalism  says :  "  By  the  revelation 
of  God,"  or:  "By  the  enlightening  efficacy  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,"  is,  of  course,  to  express  a  truth,  but  it  is  no 
answer  to  our  question.  It  is  to  express  a  trntk:  for,  of 
course,  it  is  true  of  Messianic  prophecy,  as  of  the  pro- 
phetic M'ord  in  general,  that  it  originates  in  the  revelation 
of  God,  mediated  by  the  effectual  work  of  the  Spirit. 
We  also  are  persuaded  that  an  historical  understanding 
of  Old  Testament  prophecy  is  impossible  apart  from  a 
recognition  of  the  reality  of  the  Divine  revelations 
imparted  to  the  prophets. 

Any  person  who  regards  the  prophets  simply  as  men 
of  remarkable  wisdom  and  piety,  who  sought  to  impart 
to  the  masses  their  peculiar  religious,  ethical,  and 
philosophical  convictions,  and  to  gain  acceptance  for 

14 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  1 5 

these  in  practical  life,  particularly  in  the  sphere  of 
politics,  who,  in  order  to  this,  employed,  among  other 
expedients,  that  of  announcing  hopes  and  fears,  derived 
partly  from  their  faith  in  a  righteous  Providence  and 
partly  from  their  patriotism  and  political  sagacity, — 
any  one  who,  in  maintaining  such  a  view,  deliberately 
ignores  the  idea  of  an  extraordinary  operation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  upon  the  mind  of  the  prophets,  must  be 
content  to  forego  an  understanding  of  the  inmost 
essence  of  the  entire  historical  phenomenon  of  Old 
Testament  prophecy.  For  it  is  an  undeniable  fact — 
a  fact  attested  once  and  again  on  every  page  of  the 
prophetic  writings — that  the  prophets  themselves  were 
most  clearly  and  certainly  conscious  of  announcing, 
not  their  own  thoughts,  but  the  thoughts  of  God  *" 
revealed  to  them, — not  their  own  words,  but  the  word 
of  God  laid  upon  their  hearts  and  put  into  their 
mouths.  It  is  precisely  this  point  that  they  emjihasise 
when  they  distinguish  themselves  from  false  prophets. 
They  claim  that  they  are  sent  by  God,  and  have 
received  a  definite  commission  to  discover  some  secret 
of  His  counsel ;  while  the  false  prophets  appear  with- 
out Divine  commission,  and  speak,  not  what  Jehovah 
has  spoken  to  them,  rather  only  the  vision  of  their 
own  heart  (chdzon  libhdni  y^dhaliberu  Id  mippi  Ya¥'vch)} 
They  prophesy  the  deceit  of  their  own  heart ;  they 
"use  their  tongues,  and  say:  He  saith  "  (Jer.  23.  31). 

^  [For  the  benefit  of  the  ordinary  reader  we  print  here,  as  else- 
where, the  Hebrew,  or,  as  the  case  may  be,  Greek  words  in  Roman 
letters.— Ti:.] 


/ 


16  Messianic  Prophecy. 

They  are,  in  short  —  n^bhi'e  millihldiii  (prophets 
(speaking)  from  their  own  heart) — cp.  Jer.  23.  esp. 
vv.  16,  18,  21,  22,  26,  28,  31,  and  Ezek.  13.  esp. 
vv.  2,  3,  6,  7,  17.  This  distinction  between  the  true 
and  the  false  prophet  rests  undoubtedly,  further,  on  the 
clear  consciousness  of  the  former,  that  as  the  faithful 
serv^ant  of  his  God  he  keeps  ever  in  view — in  all  that 
he  utters  and  prophesies — the  one  object  of  giving 
effect  to  the  will  of  God  in  the  State  and  among  the 
people,  while  the  false  prophets  deliberately  renounce 
any  such  task,  and  pander  selfishly  to  the  likings  and 
passions  of  the  people.  As  the  principles  and  aims 
observable  in  a  prophet's  ministry  become  to  others 
the  standard  of  judgment  as  to  whether  or  not  he  has 
really  been  called  to  his  office  by  Jehovah,  and  as  His 
servant  been  made  the  worthy  trustee  of  real  revela- 
tions ;  so,  as  regards  the  prophet  himself,  his  subjective 
certainty  of  his  Divine  calling  is  conditioned  by  the 
testimony  of  his  conscience,  that  in  his  preaching  and 
prophesying  he  is  not  seeking  his  own  ends.^  But 
even  this  method  of  marking  the  difference  between 
false  and  true  prophets  is  possible  only  when  the 
latter  are  most  clearly  conscious  that  their  prophetic 
testimony  as  a  whole  does  not  proceed  "  from  their 
own  heart,"  and,  so   far   from  being  the   product  of 

^  In  his  criticism  of  the  above  propositions  Konig  (in  loc.  cit.  ii. 
p.  229,  note)  has  ])ut  his  own  construction  upon  them,  as  if  the 
meaning  were  that  the  prophet's  certainty  of  having  received  Divine 
revelations  was  grounded  solely,  or  at  k-ast  principalli/,  upon  the  fact 
of  his  good  conscience.  His  inclination  to  deny  to  the  latter  all 
significance  in  this  relation  is  the  result  of  his  rigid  supernaturalism. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecij.  17 

their  own  reflection,  wishes,  hopes  or  fears,  is  in  reality 
something  (jivcn  them  by  God.  Every  reader  of  the 
prophetic  writings  knows  that  not  only  does  almost 
every  new  clause  commence  with  Waifhi  cWlhar 
Yah^veh  'elai  {and  tlie  loorcl  of  the  Lord  came  unto  me) 
Koh'dmar  Yah^veh  (thus  saith  the  Lord),  or  the  like,  if 
it  is  not  closed  with  a  n^'um  Yah^veh  {oracle  of  the 
Lord),\)\\t  also  that  quite  commonly  the  personal  number 
is  changed,  and  the  address  is  delivered  directly  in  the 
name  of  God.  The  prophets  have,  moreover,  not  only  f 
the  confident  certainty  that  what  they  announce  in  the 
name  of  God  will  assuredly  come  to  pass,  but  the 
prophetic  word  itself  is  in  their  view  a  power  of  God,^ 
It  is  a  word  which,  so  to  speak,  accomplishes  its  contents 
of  itself,  and  that  just  as  infallibly  as  the  law  of 
nature,  whose  operation  it  may  formally  include,  proves 
itself  no  mere  empty  phrase,  but  a  really  present 
effective  force  in  the  physical  system  (cp.  for  example 
Jer.  1.  10,  23.  28  f..  Is.  55.  10  I).  And  the  con- 
sciousness that  they  have  received  a  definite  commission 
from  Jehovah  exercises  upon  the  prophets  themselves 
a  force  so  overmastering  that  all  their  own  inner 
resistance  to  it  cannot  be  reckoned  of  account  (cp. 
Amos  3.  8  and  esp.  Jer.  20.  7-9).  On  the  other 
hand,  just  here  lies  the  power  which  enables  them  to 
face  every  danger  with  indomitable  courage,  and  to 
fulfil  their  commission  even  when  all  the  forces  of 
king,  princes,  people,  priests  and  a  whole  pack  of  false 
prophets  are  arrayed  against  them  (cp.  Jer.  1.  17  ff., 
20.  10  ff).     Many  other  passages  might  be  cited  in 

B 


18  Messianic  Propheaj. 

proof  of  the  clear  and  indestructible  conviction  of  the 
prophets  that  they  announce  only  what  God  Himself 
has  communicated  to  them  to  he  announced.^  Those 
who  desire  to  lay  firm  historical  hold  of  the  pheno- 
menon of  Old  Testament  prophecy  must  do  justice  to 
this  element  in  the  prophetic  consciousness.  This  can 
be  done  only  by  conceding  to  it  objective  validity — 
surely  no  difficult  concession  ;  for  one  has  only  to 
think  of  such  an  event  as  tlie  annihilation  of  Senna- 
cherib's host  by  the  "  sword  not  of  a  mighty  man  " 
(Isa.  31.  8)  to  see  how  much  there  is  in  the  coincidence 
of  events  with  prophecies,  uttered  too  long  before  them 
to  be  considered  the  result  of  ordinary  human  fore- 
sight, to  convince  even  the  most  gainsaying  that  the 
vivid  overmastering  conviction  of  his  own  inspiration 

^  Jer.  28  is,  among  other  passages,  very  instructive.  In  ver.  6 
Jeremiah  distinguishes  with  great  dcfmiteness  between  the  word  of 
ill-omen  he  has  to  announce  by  commission  of  God  and  the  false  \no- 
phecy  of  Hananiah,  wliich  yet  is  in  harmony  with  the  patriotic  wish 
of  his  own  heart.  Clearly  as  he  knows  Hananiah  to  be  a  false  i)rophet, 
he  is  content  in  the  first  instance  to  refer  the  matter  of  the  genuine- 
ness or  falsity  of  his  prophecy  to  the  future  decision  of  history,  and 
gives  no  immediate  answer  even  to  Hananiah's  violent  confirmation 
of  his  false  prophecy,  but  "goes  his  way  "  (ver.  11).  Only  after  the 
word  of  God  has  come  to  him  afresh,  docs  he  oppose — with  emphasis 
superior  even  to  Hananiiih's — his  own  prophecy  of  evil  to  the  latter's 
deceptive  promise  of  deliverance,  tells  liim  to  his  face  that  he  is  a 
false  prophet,  and  announces  his  death  in  the  course  of  the  year  in 
well-deserved  punishment  for  his  offence  (Deut.  18.  20  ff. ).  Not  less 
instructive  is  2  Sam.  7.  1  ff. ,  where  Nathan  at  first  regards  David's 
intention  of  building  a  temple  as  pleasing  to  God,  and  pronounces 
accordingly,  but  is  afterwards  instructed  by  a  spei'ial  oracle  in  the 
night  to  restrain  him.  Cp.  Oeulek,  art.  *' Weissagung  "  in  Herzog's 
Jieahncyklopiidie,  xvii.  pp.  627  S.  ;  H.  Scuui.TZ,  AltteatamentUche 
Theologie,  vol.  i.  p.  167,  vol.  ii.  pp.  44  f. — in  the  2nd  edition, 
pp.  220  ff.     The  claims  which  the  prophets  themselves  make  for  the 


Tlie  Origin  of  Messianic  rrophecy.  1 9 

entertained  by  the  prophet  is  not  without  historical 
foundation.^  We  therefore  cordially  admit  the  pro- 
,  position  that  the  prophets  received  every  oracle  by 
Divine  revelation.  But  that  this  admission  carries  us 
only  a  very  little  way  towards  an  answer  to  our 
question  as  to  the  origin  of  Messianic  prophecy,  becomes 
obvious  the  moment  we  remark  upon  the  way  in  ivliich, 
according  to  the  'prophets  themselves,  the  Divine  communi- 
cations  were,  as  a  rule,  made  to  them.  On  this  point, 
however,  we  confine  ourselves — in  conformity  with  our 
special  aim  in  this  treatise — to  a  rigidly  relevant  line 
of  remark,  and  are  content  to  refer  the  reader  to  the 
exhaustive  discussions  of  Bertheau,  and,  in  particular, 
of  Oehler."  In  agreement  with  these  theologians 
we  must  at  once  declare  ourselves  against  the  view 

reality  of  their  special  communion  with  God  in  revelation  have  been 
vindicated  with  the  greatest  success  \>y  Friedr.  Ed.  Konig  in  the 
work  already  referred  to  (esp.  in  vol.  ii.  pp.  161  if.).  His  view  of  the 
subject,  however,  suffers  much  from  its  literalism  (see  below). 

1  Even  Bern.  Duhm,  in  his  work,  Die  Theologit  der  Prophe/en 
nls  Gru7idla<je,  far  die,  innere  Entwickelungsgeschichte  der  isruflit- 
ischen  ReUijion  (Bonn  1875),  must  make  such  an  admission  as  that : 
"  for  fully  the  third  of  a  century  Isaiah  was  witness  of  the  most  per- 
plexing combinations  of  the  political  sky,  and  on  all  events — except 
those  of  quite  subordinate  interest — pronounced  a  judgment  that  was 
never  fallacious.  Surely  a  great  result  !  "  But  when  he  adds  :  "The 
simple  means  which  produced  this  result — the  source  from  which  the 
prophet's  political  wisdom  flowed — was  nothing  more  than  the  helief 
that  Jehovah  ivas  directing  the  affairs  of  all  nations  into  the  channel 
of  His  purpose  for  His  own  jjeople,"  the  consideration,  that  many 
have  held  this  belief  without  being  able  to  give  an  infallible  judgment 
on  coming  events,  might  have  convinced  him  that  his  own  explana- 
tion of  the  "  great  result  "  is  wholly  insufficient. 

'^  Cp.  Bertheau,  "Die  alttestamentliche  Weissagung  von  Israels 
Reichsherrlichkeit  in  seinem  Lande,"  ii.,  in  the  Jahrhb.  filr  deutsche 
Theologie,  1859,  vol.  iv.  pp.  603  If.     Oehler,  art.  "Weissagung"  in 


Iji^t. 


20  Messianic  Prophecy. 

tliat  liiids  the  essential  characteristic  of  prophetic 
j\  inspiration  in  the  state  of  ecstasy,  and  regards  the 
\-isioii  as  the  usual  medium  of  the  revelation  made 
to  the  prophet.  The  principal  advocate  of  this  theory 
is  Hengstenbekg.  The  view,  however,  which  he  gives 
in  the  second  edition  of  his  Chridology — a  view  greatly 
modified  from  that  of  the  first  edition  ^ — is  rather  in 
the  direction  of  saying  that,  when  the  prophets  received 
a  Divine  revelation  or  spoke  in  the  Spirit,  they  were 
by  no  means  in  a  condition  of  unconsciousness  (this 
as  against  Montanism  -).  On  the  contrary,  the  words 
of  Stetnhkck  might  he  cited  as  an  appropriate  descrip- 
tion of  their  state :  "  Tlie  inspired  man  not  ov^j_^fecls 
more  keenly,  he^  thinks  also  more  acutely  and  more 
clearly."  Still  their  condition  at  such  times  was  "  one 
most  distinctly  marked  olf  from  what  is  normal  and 
ordinary."  They  were  in  a  state  of  ecstasy.  In  other 
words,  the  sum-total  of  their  normal  faculties — sensible 
percei)tion  and  desire,  secular  thought,  and  their  in- 
tellectual consciousness  as  a  whole — was  ahnormally 
repressed  by  a  sudden  overmastering  operation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  upon  their  spirit ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  their  inner  perceptions  were  aroused  to  such 
"/(extraordinary  acuteness  that  they  immediately  saw  or 
heard  what  God  designed  to  reveal  to  them.     "While 


lor.  lit.  \\\).  629  tr. ,  ami  Tlieoloijte.  dea  Altrii  Testamenlex,  ii.  §  205  IT. 
Also  Tholitck,  Die  /'rophelcn  itnd  ihre  We'tssai/uvgen,  pp.  49  ff. 

^  T]).  Hcii^stciibcr},',  Chrh(olo;jie,  iii.  2,  pp.  158-217. 

-  [The  giMierie  name  for  the  ecstatic  view  of  i)iophecy,  so  called  from 
jM  oiitaiiitti  of  I'hrygia,  who  Hourisheil  in  the  middle  of  the  second  century. 
Sec  Kurtz's  Church  History,  §  37,  also  Lux  Murnll,  p.  343. — Tr.] 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Propliccy.  2 1 

they  were  in  this  state,  outward  perception  was  entirely 
suspended ;  the  intellectual  consciousness  was  over- 
powered by  the  spiritual,  the  nous  by  the  pncum((,  /^ 
yet  in  such  a  way  as  that  the  ordinary  thinking 
powers,  so  far  from  ceasing  to  operate,  were  rather 
stimulated  to  follow  the  flight  of  the  loftier  and 
special  faculty  of  intellectual  intuition^  always,  however, 
at  the  distance  which  became  their  condition  as  at 
once  essential  inferiors  and  faithful  servants  of  the 
faculty  of  inner  perception.  An  inspiration,  thus 
constituted,  involves  the  visionary  character  of  all 
prophetic  apprehensions.  In  the  state  of  ecstasy  the 
prophets  see  visions,  and  in  their  utterances  they 
describe  only  what  they  see  in  the  Spirit.  Hence 
the  rapid  movement  of  prophetic  discourse  from  one 
object  to  another  corresponds  to  the  swift  succession 
of  visions  before  the  spiritual  eye. — The  proofs  of  this 
view,  in  the  presentation  of  which  we  have  confined 
ourselves  almost  entirely  to  Hengstenberg's  own 
words,^  are  various.  They  have  been  sought,  partly 
in  the  familiar  examples  of  the  loivest  degree  of  2^ro-  k 
phetic  ins'pii'ation  (Balaam,  Saul,  etc.),  partly  in 
isolated  instances  of  states  of  ecstasy  which  prophets 
and  apostles  have  experienced,  partly  in  certain  words 
and  phrases  which  have  remained  in  use  since  tlie 
earliest  days  of  prophecy,  when  naturally  the  lowest 
was  also  the  prevalent  form  of  inspiration.  Emphasis 
has  been  laid  upon  these  last  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 

^  See  Appendix  A,  Note  I. 

2  Cp.  ill  loc.  cit.  pp.  1G9,  173,  174,  176,  179,  ISl,  184. 


22  Messianic  Prophecy. 

in  view  of  the  development  of  prophecy  it  is  impos- 
sible to  attach  to  them  their  literal  etymological  sense, 
and  that  words  originally  descriptive  of  isolated  and 
extraordinary  states  of  consciousness  have  as  a  matter 
of  fact  come  to  be  used  to  denote  the  ordinary  mode 
of  revelation  (mar'dh,  ro'im,  chozim,  chuzOn  and  the 
"like).  The  chief  defect  of  the  view  is,  however,  just 
that  it  fails  to  distinguish  with  sufficient  clearness 
between  the  different  degrees  and  kinds  of  prophetic 
inspiration,  and  does  not  consequently  do  justice  to 
the  facts.  It  has  been  well  remarked  that  the 
prophecies  of  Isa.  chaps.  40-66,  and  in  general  most 
of  the  prophecies  in  the  books  of  Isaiali,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  Hosea,  Micah,  and  others,  neither  admit  of 
being  described  as  risions  seen  in  ecstasy,  nor_^'et 
betray  on  the  part  of  the_4)rapliets  a  sjjiritual  state 
"  most  distinctly  marked  off  from  what  is  normal  and 
ordinary."  "  These  discourses  {i.e.  those  in  Isaiah, 
etc.)  do  not  attest  any  sudden  possession  of  the  prophet 
by  some  overmastering  force,  —  showing  itself  in 
movements  and  convulsions  of  the  body, — they  attest 
rather  a  continuous  Divine  operation,  a  subjective 
activity  heightened  through  communion  with  God, 
irliich  admits  of  the  freest  use  of  Itnman  gifts,  and  the 
'  most  perfect  command  of  the  'prophet's  original  powers 
and  capacities."  ^  Even  Hengstenberg  allows  that  the 
eschatological  discourses  of  Christ,  in  particular  those 
in  Matt,  chaps.  24  and  25,  are  genericaJly  identical  with 
the  Messianic  utterances  of  the  prophets.     Common 

^  Cp.  Bcitlicau  in  loc.  <it.  p]>.  607  and  610. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Proiplucy.  2  3 

to  both  is  the  characteristic  peculiarity  of  oracular 
speech — that,  viz.,  of  comprehending,  in  a  single  glance 
and  a  continuous  chain  of  sequence,  events  widely 
separated  from  one  another  in  point  of  time.  He 
grants  further  that  the  eschatological  discourses  are 
"  h])  no  means  visionary  in  character,  inasmuch  as  at 
no  point  in  the  experience  of  Christ  can  we  detect 
the  presence  of  the  ecstatic  state  of  mind  "  (in  loc.  cit. 
p.  193).  How  then  can  it  be  asserted  that  the 
essentially  similar  utterances  of  the  prophets  must 
have  had  their  origin  in  Divine  communications, 
involving  an  ecstatic  condition  in  the  prophet,  and 
mediated  by  visions  ?  What  on  this  view  would  be 
the  mental  history  of  those  prophets  for  whom 
prophecy  was  not  an  event  of  now  and  then,  but 
rather  a  life  vocation,  fulfilled  continuously  throughout 
a  long  series  of  years  (cp.  e.g.  Jer.  25.  3)?  Would 
not  the  mental  soundness  of  an  Isaiah  or  a  Jeremiah 
have  suffered  considerably  from  the  constant  recurrence 
of  those  eibnormal  conditions  into  which,  according  to 
this  theory,  the  sudden  and  overmastering  operation  of 
tlie  Divine   Spirit   must  have  thrown  them !  ^      Over 

^  Tlie  wliole  argument  of  Hengstenbei'g  is  manifestly  dominated  by  . 
a  dogmatic  interest.  His  aim  is  to  find  the  strongest  possible 
guarantee  for  the  reality  of  Divine  revelation,  and  he  would  accom- 
})lish  his  purpose  by  removing  the  psychological  condition  of  the 
prophets  as  far  as  possible  from  the  sphere  of  ordinary  experiencei 
But  are  signs  and  wonders  requisite  to  guarantee  the  belief  that  the 
word  of  God  is  in  reality  His  word  ?  Granted  that  signs  and  wonders 
can  serve  both  to  awaken  faith  and  to  support  weak  faith,  surely 
faith  ought  to  be  able  to  dispense  with  them  (John  4.  48)  without  any 
diminution  of  certainty  (cp.  article  "  Zeichen  und  Wunder"  in  my 
Dictionary  of  Biblical  Antiquities).     Signs  and  wonders,   moreover, 


24  Messianic  Prophecy. 

against  the  proposition  that  ecstasy  is  the  dominant 
characteristic  of  prophetic  inspiration,  we  may,  in  view 
of  the  hints  contained  in   the   Old  Testament  on  the 

cannot  in  a  single  instance  give  us  the  proof  we  desire.  For  visions 
arc  not  in  themselves  a  sufficient  pledge  of  the  supernatural  origin  oi 
an  alleged  revelation.  Are  there  not  visions  which  prove  only  a 
morbid  state  of  mind  in  the  seer  ? — Besides,  Ilengstenberg's  argument 
is  not  free  from  self-contradiction.  In  X\\q  Jirxt  edition  of  his 
Christology  he  carried  his  theory  to  its  legitimate  consequences, 
barely  escaping  the  extreme  of  Montanistic  error.  The  alterations  in 
the  second  edition  are  improvements,  in  so  far  as  they  are  more  in 
accordance  with  the  facts,  but  they  are — at  least  to  a  considerable 
extent — out  of  harmony  with  the  view  that  governs  his  main  con- 
clusions. In  particular,  the  allegation,  p.  194,  "  that  the  prophets 
deal  as  a  rule  with  general  truths,  not  with  facts  in  their  empirical 
isolation,"  hardly  agrees  with  his  main  position,  though  it  may  well 
promote  the  tendency  to  resolve  the  distinctively  historical  features  ol 
Old  Testament  prophecy  into  bare  illustrations.  In  KiJPEu's  treat- 
ment of  the  subject  (in  loc.  cit.  pp.  47-57)  I  remark  an  absence  of 
lucidity.  He  also  claims  for  all  prophecy  an  "ecstatic  foundation," 
but  would  have  us  understand  this  phrase  in  a  ' '  wider  sense."  But  to 
the  question  :  In  what  sense  ?  he  supplies  only  the  negative  answer  : 
that  extraordinary  phi/sical  convulsions  are  not  as  a  rule  involved  in 
l)rophetic  inspiration.  On  the  other  hand,  he  allows  that,  with 
l)rophets  like  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah,  besides  the  "extraordinary  moods 
and  states  of  inspired  possession,"  there  intervene  calmer  states  "in 
which  prophecy  exhibits  rather  the  ccjuable  character  of  a  higher 
stage  of  spiritual  life  in  Israel."  That  even  in  this  case  their  prophetic 
activity  "presupposes  not  only  an  inner  certainty  of  a  Divine  com- 
mission, but  also  a  state  of  spiritual  elevation  resulting  from  special 
experiences  of  Divine  power  and  operations  of  the  Spirit,"  and  that 
"  special  illumination  intervened  so  often  as  it  might  be  required  by  the 
prophets  in  the  fultilment  of  their  vocation,"  is  by  us  at  least  expressly 
allowed.  But  it  is  quite  another  question  whether  these  "special 
experiences"  and  "special  illuminations"  are  or  are  not  of  such  a 
kind  that  we  are  at  liberty  to  describe  them  as  ecstatic  slates,  and 
to  speak  of  an  ecstatic  foundation  in  all  prophecy.  It  would  appear 
that  Kiiper  believes  himself  unable  to  disi)ensc  with  these  modes  of 
expression,  if  he  is  to  "conserve  to  prophecy  its  properly  objective 
contents  as  over  against  the  active  and  subjective  functions  of  con- 
sciousness," but  that  he  comes  to  no  clear  understanding  with  himself 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  25 

subject  of  prophecy, — in  view,  in  particular,  of  the  pro- 
phetic writings  themselves, — confidently  lay  down  the 
following  thesis :  The  loioer  the  grade  of  prophecy,  the 
more  does  the  ecstatic  condition  become  the  normal  | 
one  for  inspiration  ;  whereas  in  the  higher  and  riper 
stages  it  occurs  but  seldom — principally  in  the  initial 
revelation,  which  constitutes  the  prophet's  call.'^ 

That  thus  real  instances  of  ecstasy  occur  in  the 
sphere  of  genuine  prophecy,  cannot  obviously  be  \ 
denied.  The  fact  that  they  do  so  is  clearly  attested 
both  by  the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments,  In  the  lovxst 
kind  of  ecstasy  the  seer  loses  self-control :  self-con- 
sciousness, and  self-determination — the  two  essential 
elements  of  personality — are  suspended.  What  one, 
so  inspired,  does,  he  does  not  by  his  own  will,  rather 
under  the  compulsion  of  the  possessing  Spirit,  of  Whom  ^ 
he  is  the  unconscious,  will-less  instrument.  Thus  also 
when  the  state  of  ecstasy  is  past,  he  has  no  definite 
remembrance  of  what  he  has  experienced.  Examples 
of  such  ecstatic  conditions  lie  ready  to  hand  in  what 
is  told  of  Saul  and  his  messengers  (1  Sam.  19.  20  ff.) 
and  in  the  New  Testament  tongues  (1  Cor.   14).      It 

as  to  what  precisely  they  imply. — Against  the  view  of  Hcugstenberg, 
cp.  also  K5NJG  in  loc.  cit.  ii.  pp.  6  ff.,  53  ff.,  S3  ff,  "What  the  latter 
remarks,  ii,  pp,  139  f.,  against  my  arguments,  as  above,  results  partly 
from  such  obvious  misunderstanding,  that  it  has  seemed  to  me  sufhcient 
to  secure  my  meaning  against  sueli  unexpected  misapprehension  by 
some  slight  verbal  alterations  ;  but  partly  also  his  remarks  are  based 
upon  the  fanciful  conception — to  be  explained  below — which  pervades 
his  whole  book,  that  an  "internal"  event  is  an  "immanent"  one, 
and  that  the  "supernatural"  can  be  certainly  guaranteed  to  men  only 
by  means  of  external  stnfiible  perception  (see  below), 
1  Cp,  Duhm  in  loc.  cit,  p,  86, 


26  Messianic  Prophecy. 

^oes  without  saying  that  ecstasies  of  tliis  kind — how- 
ever  deep   their   significance   and    blessed   their  con- 
sequence   may  be  to  the  religious   life  of  those  who 
(experience  them  (cp.  1  Cor.  14.  18) — are  not  adapted 
to  the  purpose  of  communicating  a  revelation ;   they 
lie  on  f/m-side  of  prophecy  proper.     Hence  the  Apostle 
TaTil  (1   Cor.  14)  expressly  distinguishes  between  the 
/\  tonfjuc-fiiftcd,  who  speak  only  "  with  the  Spirit,"  and 
/>.  those  who  speak  "  with  the  understanding  also,"  and 
places  the  superiority  of  the  latter  to  the  former  pre- 
cisely in  the  fact  that  in  their  case  the  understanding 
is  exercised,  and  they  are  therefore  in  a  position  to 
edify  the  community  by  their  discourse.^     But  besides 
ecstatic  conditions  of  this  kind  there  are  others,  which 
are  marked  by  no  such  obliteration  of  the  prophet's 
personality.       His     subjectivity    is    shaded,    but     not 
paralysed ;    his    own    will   can    assert    itself    even  in 
presence   of  the    Spirit ;  the   continuity  of  clear  self- 
consciousness    is    not    interrupted.       What    is    extra- 
ordinary in    such   a  condition  is   that  the   connexion 
between  the  spiritual  life   and  the  external  world  is 
for     the     time    broken,    the     relation    of     reciprocity 
subsisting  between  self-consciousness  and  the  sensible 
world  is  suspended,  and  the  spirit  is  wholly  engrossed 
in  the  active  perception  of  an  object  which  does  not 

'  It  must  he  remembered,  moreover,  that  S{)eakii)g  with  tongues  did 
not  by  any  moans  ahrayn  involve  an  unconscious  condition.  AVitness 
the  case,  rejieatedly  referred  to  by  the  apostle,  in  which  the  tongue- 
gifted  possessed  a  i>arallel  gift  of  interpretation.  We  must,  in  short, 
suppose  the  line  which  separates  the  lower  and  the  higher  stages  of 
ecstasy  to  be  in  many  conceivable  ways  a  vaimhing  one. 


Tlic  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  2  7 

belong  to  the  sensible  world.  This  concentration  of 
all  the  spiritual  faculties  upon  a  single  act  of  inner 
perception  is  an  effect  of  the  overmastering  Spirit, 
and  may  be  so  intensified  as  to  include  in  the  common 
activity — by  the  power  of  phantasy — even  the  sense- 
i'aculties  of  sight  and  hearing.  In  this  condition, 
therefore,  while  the  prophet  enjoys  clear  self-conscious- 
ness (barring  only  the  obliteration  of  actual  external 
objects),  he  sees  visions  and  hears  voices.^  In  such 
cases  there  remains,  after  the  cessation  of  the  ecstasy, 
a  more  or  less  clear  remembrance  of  what  has  been 
seen  or  heard.  The  analogy  between  these  ecstatic 
conditions  and  dreams,  which  even  the  ancients'^ 
remarked,  and  which  appears  in  the  frequent  dream- 
revelations  of  the  Old  Testament,  is  a  perfectly 
exact  one.  Only  in  the  dream  the  temporary  sus- 
pension of  correspondence  between  the  spiritual  life 
and  the  sensible  world  is  induced  by  the  physical 
condition  of  sleep,  while  in  the  state  of  ecstasy  it  is 
an  effect  of  the  Spirit — being  the  direct  result  of  the 
concentration  of  the  inner  or  spiritual  energies  upon 
the  perception  of  an  object  not  actually  present  in  the 
sensible  world. 

Now  it  must  be  admitted  that  not  only  the  prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament,  but  even  the  apostles,^  were 
frequently  at  the  moment  of  revelation  in  an  ecstasy 
of  this  kind,  especially  in  the  cases  in  which  God  Him- 

^  Morbid  phenomena  of  this  kind  are  what  we  call  hallucinations. 

2  Cp.  e.g.  Cicero,  de  divinatione,  i.  50  (113),  51  (117),  57  (129), 
;^0  (63). 

3  Cp.  e.g.  Acts  10.  9  ff.,  2  Cor.  12.  1  ff. 


28  Messianic  Prophecy. 

self  in  some  sensible  form  was  brought  l)eture  the 
spiritual  eye,  or  the  circumstances  and  fortunes  of  the 
people  of  God  were  represented  under  certain  external 
symbols.  True,  many  of  tlie  visions  narrated  in  the 
later  prophetic  writings  may  have  been  but  the 
fanciful  dress  and  veil  of  thought ;  true,  in  other 
instances  (as,  e.g.,  Ezek.  chaps,  1  and  40  ff.)  the 
prophets  may  have  used  pictorial  representation  as 
a  means  of  adding  illustrative  detail  to  the  vision 
seen  in  the  Spirit ;  still  it  remains  an  incontestable 
fact    that    even   in   the    bloom    of    prophecy   ecstatic 

y  conditions  and  visions  were  reckoned  among  the  actual 
experiences  of  the  prophets  in  the  fulfilment  of  their 
vocation. 

Just  as  certain,  however,   is  it  that  at  this   time 

/vision  and  ecstasy  were  not  the  normal  vehicle  of 
revelation.  It  is  only  of  special  individual  revelations 
that  the  prophets  say  that  they  received  them  by  means 
of  visions.  Isaiah,  for  example,  tells  of  only  one  such 
experience — that,  viz.,  which  was  connected  with  his 
consecration  and  call  to  the  proplietic  office  (Isa.  6), 
and  only  in  Isa.  8.  11  f.,  if  even  there,  is  there  any 
hint  of  its  recurrence.  On  the  contrary,  the  expres- 
•sions  most  commonly  used  to  designate  the  act  of 
revelation,  as  well  as  the  essential  character  of  the 
prophetic  discourses  and  oracles,  point  to  another 
method  of  Divine  communication.  Such  phrases  as 
the  following  may  be  cited :  "  The  word  of  the  Lord 
came  unto  me"  (Jer.  1.  4);  "The  Lord  said  unto 
me  "  {id.  7) ;  "I  have  heard  of  the  Lord  (or  the  like)" 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  29 

(Isa.  21.  10,  28.  22,  Jer.  49.  14,  Ezek.  3.  17,  Hab. 
3.  2  ;  n'''Hvi  Yah^veh,  i.e.  seci'et  confidential  communi- 
cation from  the  Lord  (literally,  v)hat  is  whispered — an 
appropriate  description  of  the  hollow,  deadened  tones 
of  a  voice  from  the  world  of  mystery ;  cp.  the  roots 
ndhnm  and  hamdh),  and  the  like.  These  are  the  most 
common  phrases,  and  they  n:mst  form  our  point  of 
departure  in  any  attempt  we  make  to  determine 
precisely  the  mode  of  prophetic  revelation.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  cannot  be  right  to  emphasise  in  this 
connection  such  comparatively  unusual  words  as 
ehdzOn  and  chazutli,  etc.,  words  manifestly  appro- 
priate directly  only  to  visions,  and  applied  only 
incidentally  to  prophecy  in  general. 

We  see  thus  that  the  usual  method  of  prophetic 
revelation  is  to  be  understood  as  a  henring  of  the  ivord 
of  God.  This  is  expressly  allowed  even  by  Ivonig 
(in  loe.  cit.  ii.  p.  8  f.)  when  he  distinguishes  between 
showing  and  speaking,  or  the  vision  and  the  hearing 
of  the  Divine  word,  as  the  two  methods  of  prophetic 
revelation,  and  points  to  the  former  as  the  less 
frequent  (cp.  ii.  p.  388).  But  to  a  much  greater 
degree  than  Hengstenberg,  or  indeed  any  of  the 
theologians  who  lay  stress  upon  the  supernatural 
character  of  revelation,  he  insists  that  both  events 
{i.e.  the  seeing  and  the  hearing)  are  extraordinary, 
lying  wholly  beyond  the  circle  of  familiar  and 
ordinary  experience.  According  to  him  the  vision 
of  the  prophet  is  a  veritable  seeing ;  i.e.  he  actually 
sees  with  the  lodily  eye,  which  is  specially  equipped 


30  Messianic  Prophcry. 

for  the  purpose,  appearances  and  events  which,  so  far 
as  he  is  concerned,  God  allows  to  transgress  the  limits 
of  their  proper  sphere  in  the  invisible  world.  Similarly 
X  his  hearing  of  the  word  of  God,  is  a  veritable  lieaHng : 
his  bodily  ears  are  mysteriously  opened  to  hear  the 
Divine  speech  litcralbj  and  arliculatdij  sonndinfj  ioirard.-> 
him  from  the  other  world}  What  therefore,  according 
to  tradition,  happened  only  on  rare  and  extraordinary 
occasions — viz.  that  the  spoken  word  of  God  became 

^  As  regards  the  seeing,  he  states  his  view  thus  (ii.  pp.  100  f.) :  "My 
assertion  is :  that  only  a  veritable  seeimj  of  phenomena,  which  God 
allows  to  meet  their  vision  from  beyond  the  limits  of  tin-  visible  world, 
could  give  the  prophets  the  kind  of  certainty  with  which  their  visions 
inspired  them,  and  that  this  seeing  must  be  that  of  persons  who  art- 
awake,  and  have  their  outer  eyes  open,  who  arc  in  possession,  not  only 
of  their  self-consciousness,  but  of  their  self-control."  How  much  in 
earnest  he  is  over  the  idea  that  visions  are  "objectively  real  events  for 
the  bodily  eye,"  sucli  expressions  as  the  following  show  (ii.  j)}).  126  f.). 
"  Even  in  the  case  of  the  vision  of  the  Macedonian  in  the  Hdrama  iU<i 
tis  nukioK  (Acts  16.  9),  unless  it  is  to  be  considered  a  mere  dieain  or 
hallucination  such  as  is  common  to  men — one  of  the  stock  products  of 
the  factory  of  the  imagination — there  must  have  been  a  crystallising 
of  ether-particles,  forming  to  the  outer  eye  of  the  waking  Pa\il  the 
.image  of  a  Macedonian;"  ii.  p.  132,  "In  order  to  become  visible, 
heavenly  things  (according  to  ii.  p.  79,  '  God  and  the  angels ')  liave 
often  assumed  a  certain  abnormal  condensation."  This  condensation, 
lie  explains  in  the  same  passage,  varies  in  degree.  Sometimes  the 
lieavenly  form  can  be  seen  with  actual  "ej^es  of  tlesh,"  at  other  times 
the  eyes  must  be  specially  opened  ;  ii.  p.  256,  "God  Himself,  as  well 
as  the  spirits  in  His  service,  have  for  the  purpose  of  self-manifestation 
assumed  such  condensations  (or  concentrations)  of  their  usual  mode  of 
being  (H(0/7'/ie),  that  they  became  v'mihle  to  the  prophets  ;"  cp.  further, 
ii.  p.  211.  On  the  hearing,  cp.  such  as  the  following:  i.  p.  82, 
"From  all  this  we  see  that  the  call  of  the  prophet  was  external  and 
sensible,  not  exposed  therefore,  like  mere  human  retlection,  to  the  risk 
of  illusion  ;"  i.  p.  87,  "The  (piestion  of  importance  is  whether  tlie 
Divine  word  (Gen  12.  1)  came  really  once  upon  a  time  sounding  from 
the  other  world  into  the  ear  of  Abraham  ;"  ii.  p.  359,  "If,  according 
to  all  that  we  have  said  above,  the  subject-matter  of  a  vord-revelaiion 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  31 

outwardly  audible,  whether  as  a  call  from  heaven  or 
from  some  earthly  habitation  (Ex.  19.  19,  20.  22, 
Deut.  4.  12  f.  and  ver.  36,  cp.  Gen.  21.  17,  22.  15, 
1  Sam.  3.  1  ff.,  1  Kings  19.  12  ff.),  and  what  in  the 
Gospel  history  occurs  only  at  isolated  moments  of  crisis 
(Matt.  3.  17,  17.  5,  John  12.  28) — constituted,  accord- 
ing to  Konig,  the  normal  mode  of  revelation  to  the  [ 
prophets.^  The  prophet  on  this  view  stood  to  God  in 
precisely  the  same  relation  as  a  pupil,  who  learns  by 
question  and  answer,  or  repetition  by  heart,  stands 
to  his  teacher ;  or  as  a  servant,  wlio  mechanically 
remembers  some  verbal  commission,  and  after  a  longer 
or  shorter  interval  accurately  conveys  it  to  the 
destined  ear,  stands  to  his  master.-  Still  Kunig 
does  not  regard  all  that  the  prophet  spoke  or  wrote 
as  the  immediate  word  of  God  in  the  sense  he 
has  defined,  but  only  those  sentences,  which  they 
themselves  exijressly  designate  as  sayings  of  God,  which 
they  have  heard.  He  distinguishes  therefore  between 
the  words  of  God  that  have  come  directly  from  Him  ♦ 
without   any  sort  of   psychological   medium,  and  the. 

could  liave  been  presented  to  the  prophet  only  by  means  of  an  actual 
voice  reaching  his  ear  from  a  sphere  normally  transcendent  and  imper- 
ceptible, we  must  further  assume  that  these  communications  were,  in 
form,  articulate  indications  of  the  Divine  will."  Cp.  also  ii.  pp.  210 
and  155  fif. 

1  In  the  later  Jewish  theology  the  voice  descending  from  heaven 
(cp.  Dan.  4.  31) — the  so-called  hath  Jcol — is  notoriously  reckoned  a 
kind  of  lesser  equivalent  for  the  revelations  of  prophecy  and  tlie  Holy 
Spirit.  Cp.  on  this  Ferd.  Weber,  System  der  altsynafjoijalen  palcis- 
tinischen  Theologie,  Leipzig  1880,  pp.  184,  187  ii". 

2  Cp.  Konig  in  loc.  cit.  ii.  pp.  209,  219,  220. 


32  Messianic  Prophecy. 

additions  of  the  prophets  from  the  store  of  their  own 
knowledge  or  of  common  revelation,  and  attempts  in 
particular  instances  of  passages  from  tlie  prophets  to 
separate  the  two  elements  from  each  otlier.^  He  cannot, 
however,  conceal  from  himself  the  difficulties  of  such 
an  undertaking  :  not  only  is  the  passage  in  the  prophetic 
text  from  the  ])ivine  Speaker  to  the  human  prophet  in 
many  cases  almost  entirely  imperceptible,  but  the  utter- 
ances that  are  directly  and  exclusively  assigned  to  God 
are,  as  regards  their  correspondence  with  the  individu- 
ality and  historical  horizon  and  standpoint  of  the 
])rophet,  entirely  of  a  piece  with  the  alleged  "  additions." 
Konig  endeavours  to  set  aside  this  difficulty  by  adopt- 
ing from  the  ///.s^n'm^io/t-dogma  of  the  elder  Protestant- 
ism the  idea  of  an  accommodation  on  the  part  of  the 
revealing  God  to  the  individuality  and  "  historical 
horizon "  of  the  prophet,  and  l)y  making  the  freest 
])03sible  use  of  the  idea  of  a  pedagogic  adaptation  of  the 
Divine  speech  to  the  spiritual,  and,  in  particular,  the 
ethico-religious  standpoint  of  his  time.^  "With  this  is 
connected,further,his  admission, that  the  Divine  message 
did  not  necessarily  come  to  the  prophet  in  the  exact 
form  of  words  and  sentences  in  which  he  might  deliver 

'  Ki')ni<;  in  loc.  nt.  ii,  pp.  220,  '270-278,  356-359  :  While  lie  recog- 
nises the  "additions"  and  "pinl'cllishnicnts"  of  the  prophetic  writings, 
as — if  not  "directly  Divine,"  yet  — "  Divine  human,"  he  would  have 
the  iletailed  statements  of  tlie  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament — 
.iniong  others,  those  ('oncerning  the  prophets— examined  according  to 
the  tests  applied  to  the  prophets'  own  testimony,  and  with  reference 
to  the  question  whether  or  not  in  the  tradition  human  chaff  has  been 
mixed  with  the  geiniine  Divine  grain.     See  Appendix  A,  Note  II. 

■'  Kiinigin  Joe.  cit.  ii.  j.p.  209,  218  f.,  307,  •.iU  f.,  348,  3r)6,363  IT.,  397. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  33 

it;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  we  must  recognise  the  exer- 
cise on  the  part  of  the  prophet  of  a  relative  freedom  in 
such  merely  formal  respects.^  The  futility  of  such  a 
make-shift  will,  we  should  suppose,  be  obvious  to  most. 
It  cannot  serve  to  conceal  the  essential  incongruity  of 
Konig's  rigidly  obscurantist  view  of  the  mode  of 
Diviue  revelation  to  the  actual  facts  of  the  case  as 
presented  in  the  prophetic  writings.  The  hypothesis 
of  an  accommodation  of  Divine  revelation  to  the  indi-  * 
viduality  of  the  prophet  and  the  mental  capacity  of 
his  hearers,  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  of  the 
Inspiration  of  Scripture  ly  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  so  long 
as  it  M'as  only,  or  mainly,  a  question  of  how  to  explain 
observed  differences  of  style  in  the  prophetic  writings, 
and  other  matters  relating  only  to  the  form  of  presenta- 
tion {i.e.  up  to  the  latter  half  of  last  century),  one  could 
at  least  hope  to  find  in  it  a  sufficient  guide  through  the 
perplexities  of  our  subject.  But  to  require  us  to  believe 
in  a  literal  Divine  voice  sounding  in  the  ears  of  the  ^ 
prophet  is  surely  a  romantic  caricature.-  And  if  we 
consider  the  far-reaching  consequences  of  the  praise- 
worthy candour  with  which  Konig  allows  the  stamp  of 
the  prophet's  individuality  and  historical  limitations  to 
adhere  to  the  word  of  God  as  communicated  to  him, 
and  remember  the  free  use  it  necessarily  led  him  to 
make  of  what  is  at  best  a  precarious  hypothesis,  it 
cannot  surprise  us  that  he  himself  should  have  been 
staggered  and  confused  by  the  intricacies  of  his  own 
reasoning.      Of  such  a  result  we   actually  find   some 

'  Konig  ia  loc.  cit.  ii.  pp.  361,  364.       -  See  Appendix  A,  Note  III. 

C 


34  Messianic  Prophecy. 

traces  towards  the  end  of  liis  work  (see  below).  His 
own  idea,  of  course,  was  that  his  hypothesis  was  neces- 
sary to  justify  the  claims  the  prophets  made  for  them- 
selves. Closer  investigation,  however,  tends  to  the 
^  LxX. "...^discovery  that  no  such  necessity  lies  in  the  prophets' 
1  own  account  of  their  inspiration,  but  only  in  Konig's 

literalistic  interpretation  of  their  words,  and  that  this, 
again,  is  chiefly  the  consequence  of  the  gross  sen- 
sationalism involved  in  the  idea  that  dominates  his 
argument.  We  mean  the  idea  that  only  an  act  of 
external  perception  can  form  the  basis  of  a  certainty  as 
to  the  objective  reality  of  an  event  that  shall  exclude 
every  doubt  and  possibility  of  illusion,  and  that  there- 
fore a  "  truly  objective  kind  of  Divine  communication  " 
can  be  only  one  that  is  external  and  sensible — capable, 
i.e.,  of  being  perceived  through  the  bodily  senses  of  sight 
and    hearing.^     We    refrain    from  investigating  more 

1  KONIG  in  loc.  cit.  i.  p.  82,  "From  all  this  we  soc  that  the  call  of 
the  prophet  was  external  and  sensible,  not  exposed  therefore,  like  mere 
liiiman  reflection,  to  the  risk  of  illusion  ; "  i.  p.  100,  "What  then, 
shall  we  say,  must  have  happened  in  the  spiritual  experience  of  the 
prophet  to  produce  an  indubitably  "  recognisable  "  "  call  of  God  "  ?  i. 
p.  3,  "If  the  prophets  were  conscious  of  some  specially  qualifying 
cooperation  of  the  Divine  Spirit  with  theirs  as  the  only  Divine  factor 
of  their  prophetic  knowledge,  a  discrimination  on  their  part  between 
their  own  subjectivity  and  the  Divine  thoughts  would  not  have  been 
reliable,  or  even  possible;"  ii.  p.  101,  "Otherwise  {i.e.  apart  from 
bodily  eyesight)  they  would  have  had  no  certainty  that  they  were  not 
following  after  what  they  have  not  seen  (Ezek.  13.  3),  what  had  come 
from  their  own  heart,  what  they  had  themselves  imagined  ; "  ii.  p. 
125,  "No  other  'inner  sense'  is  discoverable,  which  should  prove 
itself  different  from  thinking,  homphanta-'ir/.  Hthinkiny  and  phantasy 
Iiad  been  employed  by  the  prophets  as  the  means  of  perception,  tliey 
could  not  have  been  convinced  of  the  objective  reality  of  what  they 
saw;"  ii.  p.   ICO,  "It  is  my  fixed  conviction   that  the  monicnt  we 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prcrplucy.  35 

closely  the  SGiisationalistic  ^  view  of  knowledge  involved 
in  such  an  opinion,  the  more  so,  that  Konig  does  not 
seek  to  found  his  view  upon  abstract  principles.     We 
simply  set  over  against  it  the  contrary  axiom  express- 
ing our  own  conviction  :   that  God  who  is  spirit  is  able 
to  reveal  and  communicate  Himself  to  the  human  spirit 
immediately  —  without,  i.e.,  the   mediation   of   external 
sense-perception,  and  that  this  revelation  is  of  a  "  tridy . 
objective  kind,"  carrying  ivith  it  a  certainty  that  excludesv 
all  doubt.      On  the  other  hand,  we  cannot  escape  the 
task  of  examining  more  minutely  the  personal  testi- 
mony of  the  prophets.      How  are  we  to  conceive  their  ^ 
hearing  of  the  word  of  God  ?     What  are  we  to  say  of 
the  supports  which  Konig  found  in  this  and  other  like 
phrases  for  his  own  view  1 

Of  first  importance  here  is  the  point  which  we  have 
already  emphasised  (pp,  16  f.),  and  which  is  treated  at 
length  by  Konig  as  the  third  principal  utterance  of  the 
prophets  regarding  their  own  inspiration  (ii.  pp.  161— 
366) — we  mean  the  clear  and  certain  consciousness 
of  genuine  prophets  that  the  Divine  word  which  they 
announce  does  not  originate  millibbrrcm  (from  their  own 
heart)  like  the  alleged  oracles  of  the  false  prophets, 
but  has  been  really  communicated  to  them  by  God.i 

reject  the  transcendental  standpoint  and  the  truly  objective  method 
of  Divine  revelation,  the  endeavour  to  uphold  the  Divine  authorship 
(hence  also  the  Divine  subject-matter)  of  the  prophetic  deliverances 
becomes  vain;"  ii.  p.  181,  "An  'inner  act  of  consciousness '  is  too 
precarious  a  foundation  for  such  an  edifice  as  the  prophetic  certainty." 
1  [The  closest  possible  equivalent  for  the  German  sensimli.stinch, 
though  the  latter  is  perhaps  hardly  used  in  the  same  technical 
sense. — Tr.  ] 


36  Messianic  PropJoeq/. 

80  far  we  can  heartily  agree  with  Konig  in  saying  that, 
according  to  the  testimony  of  the  prophets  them- 
selves, they  received  their  communications  "  from 
without  inwards  :  "  ^  they  do  not  proceed  from  within 
the  prophet  himself,  but  from  God,  whom  the  prophet 
knows  as  a  Person,  distinct  from,  and  not  dwelling 
i)i  himself  —  standing  in  "truly  objective  reality" 
over  against  his  own  ego,  yet  actually  conversing 
with  liim.  We  must  beware,  however,  of  resting 
on  tins  consciousness  of  the  prophets  a  heavier  weight 
of  inference  than  it  can  bear.  Konig  makes  this 
mistake  when  he  infers  from  it  a  denial  on  the 
})art  of  the  prophets  "  that  their  prophetic  cognitions 
were  worked  into  form  in  the  human  soul,  or  took 
shape  under  the  ordinary  processes  of  judgment  and 

^inference,  or  the  influence  of  human  feelings  and 
motives"  (in  loc.  cit.  ii.  p.  174).  For  the  expression 
millihhdm,  as  used  of  the  false  prophets,  and  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  genuine  prophets  that  their  word  of 
})rophecy  does  not  originate  millihhdm,  relate  only — 
be  it  said,  in  the  first  place — to  the  source  of  the 
oracle,  not  to  the  mode  of  its  communication  to  the 
prophet.  In  reference  to  the  latter  point,  it  leaves  just 
as  nuK'h   room   for  mediation  to   the   transaction   that 

X- belongs  to  the  inner  s})here  and  domain  of  the  spirit 
as  to  that  which  belongs  to  the  outer  world  of  sense. 
It  does  not  make  the  slightest  difference  that  in  the 

'  or  course,  however,  "  without  "  here  is  not  to  be  made  synonymous 
with  the  external  worhl  of  sense-perception.  Yet  only  on  the  basis  of 
such  a  confusion  of  terms  would  it  be  possible  to  assert  that  a  "  recep- 
tio.i  frmii  witlioiit"  miMt  be  one  mediated  by  external  sense- i)ereeptiou. 


Tlic  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  3  7 

former  case  the  medium  is  purely  psychological,  while  f 
in  the  latter  it  is  external  sense-perception  ;  whence, 
secondly,  it  appears  that  such  expressions  as  millibbani 
and  l<y  millibbenu  ^  refer  throughout  essentially  only  to  -^ 
the  contents  of  the  Divine  message,  not  to  its  outfit  in 
form  and  mode  of  presentation.  In  the  end,  even  Konig 
himself  is  constrained  to  admit  so  much,  for  he  says  (in 
loc,  cit.  ii.  p.  362) :  "  If  we  base  our  conclusions  solely 
upon  the  testimony  of  the  propliets  themselves,  we  can- 
not affirm  that  the  phrase  'not  from  our  own  heart' 
signifies  :  Our  heart  takes  no  part  in  the  formal  shaping, 
of  the  report  we  give  of  the  revelation.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  prophets  intend,  in  what  we  have  called  their 
third  principal  utterance,  only  to  uphold  the  Divine 
originality  and  integrity  of  their  message  as  against 
adversaries.  The  phrase  is  neither  designed  nor  fitted 
to  prove  anything  contrary  to  the  proposition  that  the  ^ 
receivers  of  revelation  have  woven  Divine  threads  after 
a  Divine  pattern  into  a  Divine-human  web."  And 
this  admission  does  not — as  might  be  supposed  from 
the  last  words — relate  merely  to  the  prophets'  own 
additions,  but  also  to  what  is  expressly  designated  as 
the  Divine  speech;  for,  according  to  ii.  p.  361,  it  can- 
not be  concluded  from  the  personal  testimony  of  the 
prophets  "  that  the  Divine  word  -  revelation  must 
have  been  formulated  m  all  its  words  and  seiitences 
precisely  as  it  is  reproduced  in  the  deliverances  of  the 
prophets." 

In  the  various  other  expressions  used  to  denote  the 

*  Not  from  our  oirn  heart. 


38  Messianic  Prophecy. 

Divine  revelation  made  to  the  proi)lietp,  there  lies,  as 
in  the  lo  millihhenn,  already  noticed,  in  various  forms 
but  always  with  the  same  import,  the  general  concep- 
tion that  the  Divine  word  is  received  as  something  pro- 
ceeding from  (rod  and  presented  by  Him — something, 

■J^tlierefore,  received  "  from  without  inwards  ; "  and,  as 
the  revealing  God  as  a  Person  stands  over  against  the 
person  of  the  prophet,  it  is  only  natural  that  the 
ex])ressions  most  connnonly  used  to  describe  the  rela- 
tion between  God  and  the  prophet  should  be  borrowed 
from  the  custo7)\ary  form  of  immediate  intcreourse 
between  person  and  person.  It  is  by  speaking  and 
hearing  that  human  persons  interchange  thought  and 
ispiritual  experience  in  general.  Similarly,  God  speaks 
and  the  prophet  hears.  It  ought,  however,  to  be  un- 
derstood, as  a  matter  of  course,  that  things  similarly 
described  are  not  necessarily  similar  to  each  other. 
It  cannot  be  assumed  without  proof  that  the  inter- 
course of  God  with  a  prophet  is  quite  the  same  in  kind 
with  the  intercourse  of  men  among  themselves.  In 
particular,  it  cannot  be  assumed  that  this  intercourse 
is  mediated  by  external  sense  -  perception.  Every 
Israelite  knew  that  God  was  not  a  Person  who  belonged 
to   the   external,  sensible   world,  and   that,   therefore, 

^  when  He  was  spoken  of  in  human  terms  the  phrases 
could  not  be  understood  in  quite  the  ordinary  sense. ^ 

*  The  followin<^  remark  of  Kiinig's  is  mildly  i-liaracterised  as  very 
ill-coii.sidfrcd  (ii.  p.  179,  note  3):  "How  can  Jeremiah's  frequent 
plira-se,  'And  .Jehovah  said  unto  me'  (1.  7,  etc.),  be  made  to  bear  any 
otlier  meaning  than,  e.(].,  '  Hanameel  .said  unto  nie'(32.  8)?  To 
give  different  senses  to  the  same  words  remains  for  ever  an  exegctical 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  3  9 

The  prophets,  therefore,  could  employ  the  common 
phrases  of  human  intercourse  to  denote  the  intercourse 
between  God  and  the  prophets,  without  intending  to 
say  that  the  Divine  speech  was  addressed  to  them  in 
an  externally  audible  way.  The  essential  thing  they 
wish  to  express  is,  that  there,  has  been  a  commimication 
from  a  Person  to  a  person  ;  and  this  by  no  means 
excludes  the  possibility  that  the  communication  is  one 
only  internally  audible,  taking  place  in  the  domain  of 
the  spirit,  and  not  in  the  sensible  world.  Similarly, 
a  non-sensible  mode  of  communication  is  by  no  means 
excluded  by  the  fact  that,  in  some  individual  instances, 
the  prophets  declare  that  they  have  heard  the  Divine 
word  "  with  their  ears"  (Isa.  5.  9,  22.  14,  Ezek.  3.  10, 
9.  1.  5,  40.  4,  44.  5),  although  Konig  urges  the  con- 
trary with  special  vehemence  (in  loc.  cit.  pp.  158,  179, 
note  3,  181).  For  even  if  in  these  cases  the  phrase, 
"  with  mine  ears,"  were  to  be  taken  with  absolute 
literalness,  we  should  not  be  justified  in  inferring  a 
general  rule  from  isolated  cases,^  in  which  sensible  per- 
ception may  have  had  part  in  the  reception  of  the 
revelation.  And  if  the  word  "  hear "  is,  by  a  trope 
undeniably  legitimate,  used  in  a  sense  not  strictly 
literal,  it  is  hard  to  see  why  "  to  hear  with  the  ears  ">. 
might  not  be  intended  in  a  sense  other  than  literal. 

impossibility."  Moreover,  he  contradicts  himself  by  regarding,  e.g., 
the  expression,  "Jehovah  said  unto  me,"  in  Isa.  36.  10,  2  Kings 
18.  25,  as  not  implying  Divine  speech  in  the  proper  sense  (cp.  ii. 
pp.  239  ff.,  in  general,  pp.  239-261). 

Mt  is  a  violent  and  unwarranted  exaggeration  on  the  part  of  Kiinig 
(ii.  p.  181)  to  affirm  that  the  prophets  were  "constantly"  saying, 
"  We  have  heard  it  with  the  ears." 


40  Messianic  rroj)li€ry. 

It  is,  in  fact,  notliinj,'  more  than  a  way  of  adding 
impressive  empliasis  to  the  simple  "hear"  (cp.  Ps. 
44.  IV 

Ikit,  besides  all  this,  there  is  no  lack  of  definite 
indications  that,  by  their  nse  of  the  expressions  bor- 
rowed from  intercourse  between  human  persons,  the 
prophets  did  not  intend  to  express  an  audible  speech 
of  (»od,  or  a  hearing  with  tlie  bodily  ear.  (lod  must 
awaken  {heir  'o2;^/2,=arouse  the  ear),  or  oijen  (pdthach 
'oz — ),  or  discover-to  (fjdhlh  'oz — )  (Isa.  50.  4  f. ;  1  Sam. 
9.  15)  the  ear  of  His  servant,  so  that  he  hear  the 
Divine  word.  What  else  can  this  mean  than  that  God 
•^opens  and  sets  in  activity  the  spiritual  ear,  or  tlie 
faculty  of  inner  perception  adapted  to  supersensible 
communications  ?  ^  Further,  besides  the  usual  dihhcr 
'el  (to  speak  to),  there  is  employed,  to  denote  the  speech 

^  Kiinig  cannot  mean  to  deny  that  the  bodily  cars  are  not  meant  in 
every  instance  of  tlie  use  of  the  phrase  in  question  (cp.  Isa.  6.  10).  He 
(loos  not,  wc  should  think,  ])ropose  to  understand  literally  the  jihrases 
ill  which  Ezekiel  describes  the  npeninf)  of  liis  month  and  the  eatirKj  of 
the  hook-roll  (Ezek.  3.  1-3).  "Why  then  insist  that,  in  such  phrases  as 
lifting  up  the  eyes  or  henriiuj  with  the  ears,  the  bodily  eyes  and  ears 
must  be  meant  (Kbnig,  ii.  pp.  39  f.,  75  f.)  ? 

-  Kbnig  (in  loc.  cit.  ii.  p.  179,  note  3)  declares  such  an  interpreta- 
tion impossible,  and  insists  on  understanding  even  these  expressions 
only  of  a  special  equipment  and  (inickening  of  the  bodily  .sense  of 
hearing.  So  correspondingly  (and  here  he  is  partly  right)  with  the 
0}>cni)i(j  or  uncoverituj  of  the  eyes.  But  surely  bodily  heariiiij  is  just  as 
little  meant  in  the  jiassages  he  quotes  as  in  Jol)  33.  16,  36.  15,  and 
Isa.  48.  8.  The  expression  qdldh  'Ozen  is  indeed  sometimes  used  of 
rommunication  by  means  of  ordinary  sensible  sjjeech  (1  Sam.  20.  2, 
also  vv.  12  and  13,  22.  8.  17,  Kuth  4.  4) ;  but  even  in  these  jiassages  'oziii 
does  not  directly  signify  the  bodily  ear.  On  the  contrary,  tlie  expres- 
sion is  borrowed  from  the  language  of  revelation  (ej).  2  Sam.  7.  27, 
I  Chron.  17.  25),  and  signifies  the  revelation  of  soniethimj  hitherto 
concealed.     The  mere  fact  of  the  constant  use  of  the  singular  number 


TJie  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  41 

of  God  or  an  angel  to  the  prophet,  the  phrase  dibher 
¥  (to  speak  m)/  which  does  not,  of  course,  mean  to 
speak  mapef*So7i,  but  is  at  the  same  time  not  perfectly 
synonymous  with  the  word  for  simple  address.  It  is  a 
phrase  of  more  express  import,  being  employed  only  of 
a  revealed  communication,  and  denoting  that  what  is 
communicated  is,  as  it  were,  spoken  into  the  person 
addressed.^  I  am  not  inclined  to  lay  any  special  stress 
upon  the  fact  that,  in  Ezek.  3.  10,  the  command, 
"  All  my  words  receive  into  thine  heart,"  precedes 
"  and  hear  with  thine  ears"  (cp.  44.  5,  and,  for  the  con- 
trary order,  40.  4),  or  that,  according  to  Jer.  20.  9,  the 
word  of  God  is  in  the  heart  of  the  prophet,  consuming 
him  like  fire  if  he  would  forbear  to  speak,  though  it 
certainly  warns  us  against  an  exaggerated  literalism 
in  the  interpretation  of  the  familiar  la'  milUbbenu. 
But  by  the  fact  that  they  employ  other  phrases  than 
hearing,  or  hearing  loith  the  ears,  to  denote  their  inward  J 
reception  of  the  Divine  word,  or,  generally,  its  com- 

in  the  expres.sions  in  f[uestioii  suffices  to  indicate  that  the  bodily  ears 
are  not  meant.  In  passages  like  Ps.  40.  6,  where,  besides  the  higher 
and  principal  meaning,  there  is  meant  to  be  at  least  an  accompanying 
reference  to  what  is  literal,  the  plural  form,  'oznayim  is  used. 

iCp.  Hos.  1.  2,  Hab.  2.  1,  Zech.  1.  9.  13.  14,  2.  2.  7,  4.  1.  4.  5, 
5.  5.  10,  6.  4,  Num.  12.  6.  8,  2  Sam.  23.  2. 

■•^  Konig  (in /oc.  cit.  ii.  p.  178  ff. )  has  mistaken  the  special  signifi- 
cance of  the  phrase.  It  is  never  used  of  the  speech  of  one  human 
being  to  another  (1  Sam.  25.  39  cannot,  in  spite  of  Gesenius,  be 
translated  "  he  spoke  to  Abigail,"  but  "  he  spoke  about  Abigail  "  {i.e. 
with  a  view  to  secure  her  in  marriage) ;  cp.  Ps.  119.  46).  For  this  the 
only  properly  corresponding  phrase  is  dibber  6«  'ozne  (to  spt-ak  in  the 
ears  of).  We  have  not  adduced  the  passages  Num.  12.  2  and  1  Kings 
22.  28  in  note  1  (above),  because  it  is  doubtful  whether  dibber  6«  does 
not  there  mean  to  speak  by  or  through. 


42  Messianic  Prophecy. 

raunication,the  prophets  indicateclearly  howfar  it  is  fi'oin 
\  their  intention  to  represent  the  word  of  God  as  sensibly 
1  sounding  in  their  ears.      Thus,  e.f/.,  the  word  of  God  is 
'  described  as  tncat  or  as  a  v:riUen  roll,  wliich  tlie  prophet 
must  eat  (Jer.  15.  16,  Ezek.  2.  8,  3.  2  f.);  or  it  is  put 
'info  the  mouth  of  the  prophet  (Xum.  23.  5.  16,  Deut. 
18.  18,  Jer.  1.  9) ;  or  the  prophet  sees  it  and  God  shovjs 
it  to  him  (Jer.  38.  21,  Ezek.  11.  25,  Hab.  2.  1  f.,  Isa. 
2.    1,  Am.   1.   1).       The  very  fact   that    the   phrase, 
•  And  it  came  to  pass  that  the  word  of  Jehovah  came  unto, 
etc. — a  phrase  by  no  means  common  as  descriptive  of 
audible  speech  between  human  persons  ^ — is  that  most 
commonly  and  with  preference  employed  by  the  pro- 
j)hets  to  denote  a  Divine  communication,  can  be  ex- 
])lained  satisfactorily  only  by  the  supposition  that  the 
Divine  speech,  unlike  human  speech,  is  not  heard  with 
the   outer  ears.      Finally,  we  have  express  testimony 
•  that  it  is  the  Spirit  of  God  who  not  only  effects  the 
hithnahhe     (the    prophetic     gift),    and     in     particular 
qualifies  the  prophet  to  speak  in  the  name  of  Jehovah, 
and  to  announce  His  counsel  and  will,'  but  is  also  the 
communicating  medium  of  the  Divine  word.      Thus  in 
Isa.  30.  1  f.  the  intimation  proceeding  from  Jehovah, 
or  from  His  mouth  (ver.  2),  is  likewise  thought  of  as 
-  proceeding  from  His  Spirit ;  in  Ezek.  11.  5,  the  pro- 
position. He  {Jehovah)  spake  to  me,  is  annexed  to  the 
)preceding.  The  Spirit  of  Jehovah  fell  upon  me ;   Zech. 

»  Num.  11.  25  ff.,  1  Sam.  10.  6.  10,  19.  20  ff.,  Joel  2.  28  f. 
2  Isa.  48.  16,  59.  21,  61.  1,  Micah  3.  8,  1  Chron.   12.  18,  2  Cliron. 
1.'>.1  f.,  20.  M  ff.,  24.  20. 


Tlie  Origin  of  Messianic  PropJiccy.  43 

7.  12  is  an  express  statement  of  the  Spirit's  mediation, 
The  words  which  Jehovah  Sahaoth  hath  sent  through  (¥) 
His  Spirit  by  means  of  {Ifyadh)  the  former  prophets  ; 
cp.  also  Neh.  9.  80,  a7id  Thou  gavest  them  witness 
through  thy  Spirit  hy  means  of  Thy  2^rophcts.  Further, 
the  words  of  the  false  prophet  Zedekiah,  Wliich  way 
went  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  from  me  to  speak  unto  thee  ? 
(1  Kings  22.  24,  2  Chron.  18.  23)  show  that  the 
speech  of  Jehovah  and  the  sjyeech  of  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah 
are  synonymous  expressions ;  and,  finally,  it  appears 
from  2  Sam.  23.  2  f.,  whether  we  render  the  Uo{  ver.  2 
by  to  me  or  by  through  me,  and  v/hether  in  the  former 
case  we  understand  a  revelation  made  directly  to  David 
himself  or  one  mediated  by  Nathan,  that  the  com- 
munication of  the  Divine  word  to  David  was  mediated 
by  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah.^ 

We  have  thus  good  ground  for  describing  the  ordi- 
nary mode  of  revelation  as  one  that  implies,  on  the 
side  of  God,  a  pecular  inwarcl_speech  [^Einsprache=  I  i  | 
literally,  a  speaking  into,  as  if  what  the  prophet 
spoke  out  had  first  to  be  conveyed  in. — Tr.]  mediated 
hy  His  Spirit,  and  on  the  side  of  the  prophet  a  cor- 
responding psychical  operation  of  inward  hearing} 

^  Konig  (in  loc.  cit.  i.  pp.  104-114,  141-144)  allows  to  the  Spirit  of 
God  only  a  preparatory  work — that  of  qualifying  the  prophet  to  receive 
the  Divine  message,  and  urging  him  to  prophetic  utterance.  In  Zech. 
7.  12  and  Neh.  9.  30,  he  would  have  us  understand  an  "objective 
Spirit  of  God, "  "a  second  Divine  Being"  alongside  of  Jehovah,  an 
"  objective  Middle-Being  between  Jehovah  and  the  prophet,"  who  is 
the  medium  of  bringing  the  word,  which  Jehovah  Himself  speaks,  to 
the  ear  (!)  of  the  prophet. 

*  We  prefer  these  phrases  to  the  common  description  employed,  e.g.. 


\ 


44  Messianic  Prophecy. 

This  inward  speech,  however,  and  the  correlative 
hearing,  we  shall  rec^uire,  as  a  rule,  to  conceive  of  as 
simply  a  certainlij  as  to  the  will  and  counsel  of  God 
Awroiujht  immediately  in  the  spirit  of  t/ie  prophet  hy  the 
Spirit  of  God}  It  is  a  certainty  that  has  not  come  to 
liim  by  way  of  rertectiou,  or,  in  general,  by  any  usual 
mode  of  original  activity.  The  prophets  are  clearly 
conscious  that  it  is  something  given  them  by  (iotl,  that 
they  are  receiving  His  connuands  and  decrees  just  as 
really  as  a  trusted  servant  hears  from  the  lips  of  his 
master  what  is  that  master's  will  and  intention.  The 
stage  of  the  mysterious  transaction  is  not  indeed  the 
sensible  world,  but  neither  is  it  the  mere  siihjeciivity  of 
the  prophet.  We  must  insist  rather  that  there  is  an 
actual  converse  of  the  living  personal  (Jod  with  the 
person  of  the  prophet.-      On  the  other  hand,  tliis  in- 

liy  Oeuleu  (art. "  Weis.sagung,"p.  636,  Theologie des  AltenTestamentes, 
ii.  pp.  187  H'. ),  according  to  which  the  ])sychical  activity  of  the  prophet 
is  represented  as  an  inward  or  iminediatv  intuition — a  pluase  with 
whiiih  conceptions  alien  to  tlie  true  state  of  the  case  readily  associate 
themselves.  See,  in  particular,  the  misleading  remarks  of  von  Okf.li.i 
(in  loc.  cit.  p.  39)  on  the  scenot/raphic  character  of  propliecy.  If  an 
"intuition"  mean  only  that  "the  subject  knows  the  object  as  imme- 
diately given  and  not  ])roduced  by  his  own  activity,"  no  ol)jection  can, 
of  course,  be  made  to  the  use  of  the  word.  Neither  is  it  to  be  (h-nicd 
that  prophetic  knowledge — specially  if  it  relate  to  the  future  course  of 
histoiy— has  in  many  respects  an  "intuitive  character,"  innsiuuch  as 
it  is  rather  the  prophet's  faculty  of  imagination  than  his  understand- 
ing or  reason  that  is  employed  in  the  reception  of  the  Divine  com- 
munication, and,  conscipieutly,  his  pemiliar  knowledge  emerges  to 
consciousness  in  the  form  of  intuition.  (See  below,  and  cp.  Studien  u. 
Kritiktn,  Jahrg.  lS8:i.  i)p.  805  f.) 

'  Cp.  H.  Scnui.TZ  in  loc.  ci(.  i.  pp.  173  f.,  ii.  pp.  4(5  f.  In  the  2nd 
<m1.  pp.  227  f.,  232  f. 

'  What  right  has  Kiixic  (in  lor.  cit.  i.  pp.  78,  82,  88,  ii.  p.  l.'i.'')) 
to  pn-siipiiose  the  impossibility  of  such   inicaid  assurance  or  of  such 


T]ie  Origin  of  Messianic  Proj>liecy.  45 

wardly  assuring  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon 
the  spirit  of  the  prophet  cannot  take  phice  arbitrarily. 
There  must  be  law  and  method.  Man's  spiritual 
experience  is  governed  by  a  Divinely-established  order,  v 
which  is  neither  suspended  nor  disturbed  by  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Even  though  this  operation 
be  of  transcendent  origin,  it  is  accomplished  in  a 
manner  conformable  to  the  established  order,  and  yet 
is  not  on  that  account,  as  Konig  contends  {e.g.  ii. 
139  f.,  224  et  i^assim),  reduced  to  a  merely  "  immanent  " 
process.^  In  other  words :  Although  the  inner  assur- 
ance of  God's  will  and  counsel  does  not  originate  in 
the  sphere  of  the  subjective  spiritual  life,  it  comes  to 
pass  only  in  conformity  with  the  laws  proper  to  that 
sphere — albeit  the  operation  of  these  laws  appears 
only  in  an  act  of  reception.  It  is  therefore  psychologi- 
cally jnedAated."     It  must  not  be  supposed,  moreover, 

spiritual  intercourse  between  God  and  an  inhabitant  of  the  visible 
world,  or  to  deny,  in  particular,  that  a  valid  certainty  as  to  his  call  may 
reach  the  prophet  at  a  particular  time  and  place  ? 

^  Cp.  Rothe's  detailed  treatment  of  the  relation  of  miracle  to  the 
order  of  nature  [Zur  Doipnatik,  pp.  87  ff.). 

■-'  That  these  propositions  cannot  be  attested  by  exjiress  citations 
from  the  pro]ihets,  forms  no  valid  ground  of  objection  to  them.  Konig's 
conception  of  an  accommodation  on  the  part  of  God  to  the  individu- 
ality of  the  prophet  is,  as  he  himself  allows  (ii.  p.  364),  equally 
destitute  of  this  kind  of  confirmation.  It  also  is  of  the  nature  of  a 
retrospective  theory,  based,  indeed,  on  a  proper  appreciation  of  the 
facts  of  prophetic  discourse  as  known  to  us,  still  manifestly  going 
beyond  the  utterances  of  the  prophets,  and  even  beyond  the  explicit 
contents  of  the  i)rophetic  consciousness  as  a  whole.  And,  in  place  of 
the  idea  of  an  external  accommodation,  it  is  in  my  judgment  more 
credible  and  more  in  conformity  with  the  facts  to  say  that  God  has 
condescended  to  exercise  His  revealing  grace  in  a  way  that  perfectly 
corresponds  with  the  laws  of  man's  spiritual  life. 


46  Messianic  Prophecy. 

tliat  the  cooperation  of  the  prophet's  original  powers 
involved  in  this  act  of  reception  is  by  any  means 
necessarily  of  an  unusual  kind,  transcendiug  the 
ordinary  processes  of  the  spiritual  life  after  tlie 
ananner  of  an  ecstasy  or  any  similar  state.  The 
object  of  the  inner  prophetic  certainty  will  indeed 
not  unfrequently  emerge  to  the  prophet's  consciousness 
in  the  plastic  form  of  an  intuition.  This  will  be  the 
case  in  proportion  as  the  prophet's  powers  of  imagina- 
tion— what  we  may  call  his  phantasy — are  roused  to 
activity.  And  if  there  be  an  excessive  concentration 
of  the  spiritual  powers  upon  this  intuition,  the  stage  of 
ecstasy,  accompanied  by  the  ecstatic  visions  of  an  ex- 
cited phantasy,  may  be  reached.  But  this  is  not  by 
any  means  what  is  usual  or  ordinary,  nor  does  the 
transaction  as  a  whole,  mysterious  as  it  is  in  itself, 
stand  apart  as  a  perfectly  isolated  phenomenon.  Two 
analogies  from  the  sphere  of  religious  experience  may 
be  of  special  service  in  bringing  it  nearer  our  compre- 
hension. The  one  is  the  way  in  which  to  this  day 
every  living  conviction  of  religious  faith,  every  Chris- 
tian truth  that  is  recognised  as  carrying  its  own  cer- 
tainty with  it,  is  arrived  at.  Even  such  a  conviction 
is  assuredly  not  the  product  of  reflection, — however 
much  reflection  may  be  exercised  in  connexion  with  it, 
— nor  does  it  proceed  purely  from  a  man's  own  sub- 
jectivity in  general.  It  is  attained  rather  in  every 
3>^ single  instance  through  a  revealing  operation  of  God  ; 
it  is  impossible  apart  from  a  certainty  as  to  saving 
truth   wrought  immediately  by  the  Spirit   of  God — 


2'he  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  47 

apart,  in  fact,  from  the  so-called  testimonium  internum 
Spiritus  Sancii.  "  Flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  / 
it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  which  is  in  heaven,"  So 
said  the  Lord  to  Peter  when  he  uttered  the  confession  : 
"  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God " 
(Matt.  16.  17,  cp.  also  11.  25,  and  1  John  2.  27). 
Now,  it  is  undoubtedly  to  an  essentially  similar  mode 
of  revelation  that  we  must  refer  the  main  portion  of 
the  contents  of  the  prophetic  writings.  This  is  speci- 
ally true  of  those  passages  where  the  only  concern  of 
the  prophet  is  to  obtain  due  recognition  for  the  will  of 
God  as  known  from  the  law,  to  bring  to  mind  the 
fundamental  truths  of  the  Old  Testament  creed,  to 
apply  them  to  certain  definite  circumstances,  to  develop 
extensively  and  intensively  recognised  religious  axioms 
or  the  like.  To  this  domain  belongs  a  very  large  portion  j- 
of  the  contents  of  Messianic  prophecy.  The  analogy 
between  the  mode  of  revelation  to  the  prophets  and 
the  inward  assurance  of  saving  truth  effected  by  the 
Spirit,  is  the  more  perfect  from  the  fact  that  in  both 
cases  (if  we  may  anticipate  a  later  inference  of  our 
argument)  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  is  indissolubly 
connected  with  the  correlative  operation  of  the  Divine 
word,  attested  orally  or  in  writing.  It  is  well  known 
how  frequently  a  prophet's  discourse  connects  itself 
with  and  grows  out  of  that  of  his  predecessors.  It 
might,  of  course,  be  objected  that  this  line  of  remark 
fails  to  do  justice  to  the  specific  character  of  prophetic 
discourse.  It  might  be  urged,  in  particular,  that  the 
Old  Testament  teacher   of  wisdom   must  be  to  a  like 


48  Messianic  Prophecy. 

extent  credited  with  a  Spirit-wrought  certainty  as  to 
religious  and  ethical  truth.  lie  also,  it  might  be  said, 
wishes  to  communicate  to  others  and  make  practically 
valid  the  convictions  thus  attained  ;  and  yet  nowhere 
within  the  compass  of  the  didactic  poetry  of  the  Old 
Testament  do  we  find  the  authors  sounding  the  pecu- 
liar note  of  prophecy.  They  do  not  enforce  their 
precepts,  exhortations,  and  warnings  as  a  word  spoken 
hi/  God  Himself  to  their  hearers  or  readers.  They 
have  not  that  i'ull  consciousness  of  speaking  in  the 
name  and  commission  of  Jehovah,  which  would  war- 
rant in  their  text  that  transition  to  tlie  direct  speech 
of  God  which  is  so  frequent  in  the  prophetic  writings.^ 
This  very  obvious  difference,  however,  arises  from  the 

j^fact  that  the  prophet  is  conscious  of  a  special  call 
addressed  to  him,  in  virtue  of  which  he  has  been  con- 
stituted an  organ   of  Jehovah,  an    interpreter  of  the 

^  Divine  will,  a  bearer  of  the  continuous  revelation  of 
(lod  to  His  people,  and  has  been  above  others  entrusted 
by  God  with  a  definite  mission  to  his  contemporaries, 
whereas  the  teacher  of  wisdom  is  conscious  only  of 
the  general  call — the  property  of  every  man  who  finds 
himself  in  possession  of  a  truth  —  not  to  keep  his 
treasure  to  himself,  but  to  make  it  available  for  others 
also.  The  latter  does  not,  like  the  prophet,  feel  im- 
pelled to  utterance   of  his  doctrines   and  precepts  by 

*  Tho  perci'ption  of  this  diireronce  has  given  rise  to  tlie  well-known 
Rabbinical  doetrine  that  the  ]>roi>hctic  writings  were  inspired  by  the 
Ruarh  Jhum^hhudh  (the  Spirit  of  rro])hccy ),  whereas  the  Haij%i>ijra])lni. 
resulted  only  from  the  general  and  commoner  inspiration  of  the  Ruach 
llakkodhesh  (the  Spirit  of  Holiness). 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  4  9 

the  conviction  that  the  existing  state  of  affairs  demands 
from  him  the  immediate  fulfilment  of  a  perfectly 
definite  duty  of  his  calling,  laid  upon  him  by  God. 
Naturally  also  the  word  of  the  wise  man  will  be  to  a 
much  greater  extent  than  that  of  the  prophet  a  product 
*  of  original  reflection  ;  it  will  emerge  to  his  own  con- 
sciousness as  such,  and  as  the  fruit  of  his  life-experi- 
ence ;  and  this,  even  although  the  truth  he  utters 
receives  the  seal  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  is  different 
with  the  prophet.  To  hira,  in  his  consciousness  of  his 
special  Divine  mission,  the  truth,  of  which  the  Spirit 
of  God  has  assured  him,  will  always  appear  as  a  word 
that  God  has  given  him  at  the  moment,  that  in  these 
definite  circumstances  he  may  fulfil  the  trust  of  his 
calling.  We  require  thus  only  to  keep  in  view  the 
prophet's  conciousness  of  his  2>^cnliar  vocation  to  see 
that  the  specific  quality  of  prophetic  discourse,  as 
regards  the  points  noticed  above,  is  satisfactorily 
explained  as  the  result  of  an  assurance  wrought  im- 
mediately by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  perfectly  similar 
in  kind  to  the  testimonium  internum  Spiritus  Sancti, 
as  to  what  in  a  particular  case  is  to  he  announced  as 
the  will  and  purpose  of  God} 

Of  course,  however,  this   consciousness   of  vocation 

^  Similar  is  the  case  of  the  man  who  having,  apart  from  the  possi- 
bility of  much  reflection,  spoken  the  right  word  in  ditticnlt  circnm- 
stances  or  at  critical  moments  in  fulfilment  of  his  official  or  Christian 
duty,  declares  from  the  depths  of  his  consciousness  ;  It  was  given  me. 
Kbnig's  objection  to  this  analogy  (ii.  p.  195,  note)  is  otf  the  point,  for, 
of  course,  the  prophet's  consciousness  of  his  vocation  adds  something 
specific  to  the  bare  certainty  that  the  word  has  been  given  him  by 
God. 

D 


50  Messianic  P7'ophccy. 

could  not  T:>c  present  to  the  mind  of  the  prophet  with 
-/such  extraordinary  force  were  not  special  revelations 
vouchsafed  to  him,  such  as  God  does  not  grant  to 
every  spiritual  man,  but  only  to  the  prophet.  True 
as  it  is  that  the  business  of  the  prophet  is  not 
primarily  to  foretell  the  future,  tlie  strength  of  his 
consciousness  of  a  Divine  mission  is  hardly  conceiv- 
able apart  from  the  experimental  certainty  that 
Jehovah  reveals  His  counsels  to  His  prophets  as  to 
trusted  servants,  and  that  they  therefore  have  above 
all  others  an  anticipatory  knowledge  of  the  future. 
Apart  from  this,  indeed,  prophetic  discourse  would 
lack  the  very  element  necessary  to  vindicate  to  their 
contemporaries  the  claim  of  the  prophets  to  be  the 
ambassadors  of  God.^  But  even  for  the  subjective 
Divinely-wrought  assurance  of  the  prophet  as  to  the 
counsel  of  God  for  the  future  we  have  a  perfectly 
exact  analogue  in  the  domain  of  religious  experience.- 
I  refer  to  assurance  of  answer  to  prayer,  in  particular 
to  cases  in  which  the  prayer  relates  to  matters  belong- 
ing either  wholly  or  in  part  to  the  domain  of  the 
outer  life.  Such  assurance  also  is  not  reflective,  nor 
indeed  in  any  sense  a  product  of  the  human  spirit. 
Like  the  prophetic  certainty,  it  is  immediately  wrought 
in  the  spirit  of  the  petitioner  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 

'  Cp.  my  remarks  in  Stud.  v.  Krit.  1872,  pp.  558  (T.  ;  Ki'i-EU  in  loc. 
cit.  pp.  442  f. 

''The  analogy  is  noted  also  by  Oehleh,  art.  "  Weissagung,"  p. 
C39,  The.ologie  ilea  Alten  Tentameiitcs,  ii.  §  211.  I  may  be  allowed 
to  rennirk  tliat  the  suggestion  to  make  use  of  it  did  not  reach  me  first 
through  Oehler. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  5 1 

and  comes  to  his  consciousness  as  an  answer  vouch- 
safed him  by  the  living  God,  to  Whom  he  has  spoken. 
The  certainty  of  the  true  petitioner  that  he  has 
received  the  answer  from  God  Himself — that  it  is  no 
mere  imagination,  hut  rather  an  experience  as  real 
and  matter-of-fact  as  any  outward  occurrence — is  just 
as  indubitable,  and  shows  itself  just  as  powerful  and 
effective,  as  the  certainty  of  the  prophet — perfectly 
similar  to  it  in  kind  and  origin — that  God  has  spoken 
to  him.  We  all  know  how  in  the  Psalms,  in  con- 
sequence of  an  inward  assurance  of  an  answer  from 
God,  the  language  of  the  bitterest  complaint  and  most 
imploring  entreaty  passes  frequently  into  that  of  most 
joyful  confidence,  even  of  exulting  praise  of  the  Divine 
grace.  Sometimes  this  transition  is  so  remarkable 
that  to  those  whose  standpoint  does  not  admit  of  their 
doing  justice  to  the  true  inner  essence  of  prophecy,  it 
seems  explicable  only  on  the  assumption  that  already 
the  deliverance  from  distress,  or  at  least  a  change  for 
the  better  in  the  position  of  the  suppliant,  has  inter- 
vened.^ Experiences  of  certainty  as  to  answer  to 
prayer,  which  cannot  be  brought  under  suspicion  as 
"  so  called,"  or  even  as  products  of  "  religious  con- 
fusion,"^ might  be  cited  from  ancient  and  from  modern 
times.  It  may  suffice,  however,  only  to  call  to  mind 
the  answer  which  the  Apostle  Paul  received  to  his 
thrice  -  uttered    entreaty ;  ^    and    the  confidence   with 

^  Cp.  Hitzig,  Die  Psalmen,  i.  p.  128. 

■  "  Religioser  Verirrung,"  Konig,  ii.  pp.  200  f. 

"  2  Cor.  12.  8  f. 


5  2  Messianic  Prophecij. 

which  Peter,  after  prayer,  called  to  the  dead  Tabitha: 
"Tabitha,  arise."^  Oeiiler  very  justly  reminds  us  that 
this  analogy  deserves  the  more  attention  from  the  fact 
that  the  intercourse  of  the  prophet  with  God  during  the 
process  of  revelation  is  not  unfrequently  represented 
as,  properly  speaking,  a  prayer-intercourse^  that  prayer 
is  even  named  as  the  condition  of  revelation,^  and  that 
correspondingly  the  word  'dnCih  (answered)  is  employed 
to  denote  the  answer  to  prayer,  which  consists  of  a 
revelation  made  to  the  prophet.* 

The  gift  of  prayer  is  a  common  gift  of  grace  ;  never- 
theless, there  are  isolated  instances  of  petitioners  who 
possess  a  special  charisma,  or  grace -endowment,  in 
virtue  of  which  they  frequently  enjoy,  even  while  they 
pray,  an  inward  assurance  regarding  the  granting  or 
refusal,  even  of  petitions  that  relate  only  to  the 
external  life.^  Similarly  the  assurance  as  to  what  is 
contained   in    the   secret   counsel   of   God,  which   the 

1  Acts  9.  40.         -  Jer.  32.  16  ff.,  A2.  4,  Hab.  1.         •''  Jer.  33.  2  f. 

"  Jer.  23.  35.  37,  33.  3,  Micali  3.  7,  Hab.  2.  2. 

*  Konig's  polemic  a<:;aiiist  our  use  of  the  above  analogy  (in  loc.  cit.  ii. 
pp.  196  fr. )  rests  almost  entirel}'  upon  a  misunderstanding.  He  supposes 
us  to  affirm  that  the  possession  of  assurance  of  answer  to  prayer  maket 
the  possessor  a  prophet.  His  description,  moreover,  of  such  assurance 
as  originating  entirely  in  the  human  heart,  as  "only  the  creation  of 
the  praying  soul,"  onlj'  "a  conscious  or  unconscious  inference  from 
the  general  to  the  particular  in  the  matter  of  saving  assurance,"  some- 
thing, therefore,  tluit  belongs  entirely  to  the  sphere  of  mere  subjectivity, 
forces  one  to  asK,  Where  in  this  view  is  his  faith  in  the  living  God  ? 
The  fact  is,  that  just  as  there  are  dilFerent  degrees  of  certainty  in  regard 
to  the  answ-er  of  prayer,  so  there  are,  according  to  circumstances, 
different  degrees  in  the  inward  certainty  of  a  prophet  as  to  whether  or 
not  the  word  that  has  come  to  him  be  really  the  word  of  Jehovah  (cp. 
Jer.  32.  6-8).  Of  course,  however,  he  can  announce  it  only  after  he 
has  attained  full  certainty. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  PropJiccy.  5  3 

Spirit  of  God  effects  in  the  prophet,  presupposes  a 
special  charisma.  This  charisma  has,  however,  a  basis 
in  nature.  In  the  case  alike  of  the  prophet  and  the 
exceptional  petitioner,  it  is  communicated  by  an  opera- 
tion of  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  sanctifies  and  sub- 
limates t\\Q,  facility  of  presentiment  in  the  human  soul, — 
a  faculty  which  is  unquestionably  possessed  by  some 
individuals  in  an  exceptionally  high  degree,  and  attains 
the  closest  resemblance  to  the  prophetic  charisma 
wlien  it  is  roused  to  activity  by  the  force  of  deep 
ethical  convictions.^ 

If  this  be  a  correct  description  of  the  regular  mode 
of  revelation  to  the  prophets,  it  becomes  clear,  in  the 
fiz^t  place,  how  completely  a  normal  ethico-relir/ioics 
attitude  on  the  part  of  the  prophet  to  God  is  an 
essential  prerequisite  to  the  proper  exercise  of  his 
gift.-  For,  as  we  Iiave  remarked  above,  it  is  precisely 
tlie  ethico-religious  character  of  a  would-be  prophet's 
work  which  must  decide  the  question  whether  he  has 
really  received  revelations  from  God,  or  whether  his 
claims  are  fictitious.  Even  the  prophet's  own  certainty 
that  he  is  announcing  the  word  of  God  is  conditioned 
by  the  testimony  of  his  conscience  that  this  is  what 
he  is  honestly  setting  his  will  to  do  (see  above, 
p.  16).  Hence  it  is,  secondly,  that  in  presenting 
truths  of  which  he  has  been  assured  by  the  Spirit  of 

^  For  a  detailed  treatment  of  the  natural  basis  of  the  charisma,  pro- 
phet eias,  see  Tholtjck  in  lot:  cit.  pp.  1  tf.,  and  the  passages  there  cited. 
Konig's  objections  to  the  concluding  sentence  above  result  from  gross 
misinterpretation  (in  loc.  cit,  ii.  pp.  201  f.). 

-  Cp.  on  this  Oehler,  art.  "  Weissagung,"  pp.  639  f. 


54  Messianic  Fro^Jcccy. 

^(Jod,  the  specific  mental  characteristics  of  the  prophet 
must  make  themselves  fully  perceptible.  For  such 
an  assurance  cannot  even  enter  the  prophet's  con- 
sciousness unless  there  be  some  preliminary  correspond- 
ence between  the  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  and 
the  receptive  activity  of  the  human  spirit,  which 
assimilates  the  impression  made  by  the  Spirit  by 
transforming  it  into  the  form  of  thought  or  intuition. 
A  communication,  moreover,  of  his  assured  truth   to 

^others  is  impossible,  unless  the  prophet  exert  upon 
it  his  reproductive  activity  in  an  effort  in  whicli 
reflection,  phantasy,  and  in  general  all  the  spiritual 
powers  display  themselves  in  the  measure  and  manner 
prescribed  by  his  oicn  sjnritual  idiosyncracy}  Viewed 
in  this  aspect,  the  word  of  God  which  he  announces 
is  also  the  prophet's  own  word.  It  is  something 
which,  as  regards  its  ultimate  origin,  does  not  proceed 
millihho  (from  his  heart),  but  yet  at  the  same  time,  in 
a  true  sense,  docs  so  proceed — as  is  acknowledged  even 
by  Konig  (in  loc.  cit.  ii.  pp.  361  f.).  Fincdly, — and  this 
the  point  that  here  mainly  concerns  us, — it  is  likewise 
clear  that,  though  the  fresh  truth,  communicated  to 

/the  prophet  in  revelation,  is  one  immediately  given 
^  him  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  its  apprehension  can  never  he 
unmediated.  It  cannot  he  an  act  that  stands  in  no 
organic  connexion  ivith  the  cognitions,  concepts,  and  ideas 
already  present  to  the  mind  of  the  prophet.  Bather 
must  it  he  organically  summoned  hy  the  Spirit  of  God  to 

X  the  light  of  consciousness  out  of  that  which  is  already 
'  Cp.  Pfleiderer,  Die  Religion,  ihr  Wesen  u.  ihre  Geschichif,  i.  p.  379. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  55 

the  spiritual  property  of  the  prophet,  and  that  without 
hurt  to  the  freshness  proper  to  revealed  truth.^  For 
how  could  the  Spirit  of  God  produce  in  the  prophet 
certainty  in  regard  to  matter  wholly  strange  and 
absolutely  new  to  his  spirit — something  which  he 
could  not  recognise  in  its  connexion  and  agreement 
with  the  total  previous  content  of  his  consciousness, 
and  fit  into  its  appropriate  place  ?  A  truth  not 
psychologically  mediated  by  connexion  with  the 
previous  contents  of  consciousness,  could  result  only 
from  a  magical  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon 
the  spirit  of  the  prophet.  In  other  words,  it  could 
only  be  put  into  the  prophet  in  an  external  andi 
mechanical  way.  It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that 
any  truth,  or  even  the  immediate  certainty  regard- 
ing the  will  and  counsel  of  God,  peculiar  to  the 
prophet,  could  originate  in  this  way.  The  law 
which  is  valid  in  the  sphere  of  the  natural  life  is 
not  less  valid  in  the  spiritual  sphere  :  the  law,  that 
nothing  can  be  mechanically  received  into  a  living 
organism,  or  in  a  purel}'  external  way  drawn  into  its 
life-process  and  activity.  In  the  one  sphere  as  in 
tlie  other,  there  can  be  appropriation  only  through 
a  process  of  assimilation  conditioned  by  the  laws  of 
the  receptive  faculties ;  and  this  process  of  assimilation 

'  Kiinig,  indeed,  conceives  of  two  "  sums  "  of  thoughts  and  concepts, 
sharply  and  definitely  distinguished  from  each  other,  the  one  of  which 
siirings  from  Divine  revelation  without  any  psychological  medium, 
while  the  other  originates  in  the  prophet's  own  mind  (in  loc.  cit.  ii. 
pp.  184  f.,  214  f.,  220).  But,  as  we  saw,  he  found  it  impossible  to 
work  out  his  theory  in  full  detail. 


o6  Messianic  rropliecy. 

is,  in  the  present  instance,  possible  only  when  the 
fresh  truth  of  revelation  finds  not  merely  certain 
supposed  external  points  of  connexion,  but  real  roots,  or 
concealed  hcginnings  of  its  growtli.,  in  the  previous 
contents  of  the  prophet's  consciousness.  The  organic 
connexion  between  the  latter  and  the  new  truth  must 
therefore  be  in  some  measure  genetic.  This  is  de- 
manded by  the  constitution  of  man's  spiritual  being, 
in  accordance  with  which  the  receptive  and  assimilat- 
ing activity  of  the  spirit  in  relation  to  a  new  truth  is 
only  possible,  when  the  new  apprehension  so  offers 
itself  that  the  existing  store  of  apprehensions  is  enriched 
by  a  living  growth  from  within  outwards,  and  not  by 
mere  mechanical  addition,  somewhat  after  the  fashion 
in  which,  in  building,  one  stone  is  laid  upon  another  ^ 
(see  above,  p.  45).  The  degree  of  this  organic  con- 
nexion betw^een  old  and  new  may,  however,  of  course, 
vary  according  to  the  peculiarities  of  particular  cases, 
in  such  a  way  that  the  predicate  new  is  claimed  for 
the  revealed  truth,  now  in  a  lower,  now  in  a  higher 
sense.  The  new  apprehension,  ohjedivcly  regarded,  may 
be  simply  the  unfolding  of  a  certain  geriuinal  know- 

^  As  regards  Konig's  criticism  of  the  above  (in /oc.  clt.,  ii.  pp.  217fl".), 
be  it  reniembereil  that  we  here  presuppose  as  proven  tlic  position  tliat 
tlic  hearing  of  the  speech  of  God  is  an  inner  assurani;e  regarding  God's 
counsel  and  will.  15ut  even  if  we  accepted  Konig's  literalistic  view, 
his  hypothesis  of  an  acconiinodation  on  the  jmrt  of  the  speaking  God 
would  have  to  be  extended  to  the  point  reijnircd  by  the  theory  we 
])refer,  unless,  indeed,  we  are  content  to  assume  that  the  prophet  was, 
like  a  pui>il  who  has  learnt  his  lesson  by  "mere  verbal  repetition," 
appropriating  it  only  as  a  kind  of  unintelligible  ballast  to  the 
memory, — an  assumption  which  Konig  himself  expressly  repudiates 
(p.  219). 


Tltc  Origin  of  Messianic  Tro'phecy.  5  7 

ledge   already  contained  in   the   consciousness  of  the 
prophet,  only  the  unfolding  process  is  not  effected  by 
the  conscious  exercise  of  his  understanding  and  reason. 
At  the  moment  of  revelation  he  is  conscious  only  of  the 
result  of  the  process  as  something  given.      He  is  not 
conscious  of  the  development  of  the  new  truth  out  of 
those  which  are  already  his  spiritual  possession,  and  it 
is  only  afterwards,  if  at   all,  that  he  can,  as  it  were, 
count  up  the  items  of  the  given  total,  and  clear  up  by 
reflection  the  genetic  connexion  of  the  new  with  the 
old.      But,   apart   from   this,    the   organic  relation  of 
which  we  speak  may  reveal  itself  in  the  fact  that  the    i 
new  truth   reconciles    contradictory   elements    in    the 
existing   contents  of  the   prophet's   consciousness,   or 
that,  by,  as  it  were,  filling  a  gap  in  the  complex  of  his 
prophetic  intuitions,  it  seems  to  him  the  solution  of 
a  riddle.      This  is  particularly  the  case  where  the  new 
truths  are  not  of  a  purely  ideal  character,  but  relate 
rather  to  the  concrete  facts  of  future  history.      Such 
truths   cannot   manifestly  be   related   to  the   existing 
knowledge  of  the  prophet  in  a  purely  genetic  way,  as    i 
if  the  related  terms  were  but  the  necessary  steps  in  a , 
process   of  abstract  reasoning.     The  rule  ma}'-  be  laid  ( 
down  that  in  all  cases  in  which  the  peculiar  prophetic 
charisma,  based  as  it  is  on  the  natural  faculty  of  pre- 
sentiment, operates  with   marked  prominence,  the  pre- 
dicate new  is  applicable  to  the  truths  enunciated  in/ 
the  higher  sense.      Yet  even  such  truths  can  be  taken 
up   into   the   consciousness  of  the   prophet  only  in  a 
manner  conformable  with  the  laws  of  the  human  spirit. 


58  Messianic  Prophecy. 

Ill  spite  of  their  newness,  they  cannot  he  added 
to  his  existing  knowledge  in  an  external  way,  hut 
they  must  so  (jroio  out  of  it  that  the  new  shoots  of 
spiritual  impulse  derive  the  nourishment  necessary,  so 
to  speak,  to  their  organic  outfit  through  numerous 
delicate  arteries  from  the  old  stem.  As  a  vjliolc,  the 
truth  may  fairly  be  regarded  as  a  7iew  one  ;  yet,  for 
all  that,  it  must  be  possible  to  exhibit  some  genetic 
connexion  between  the  individual  moments  of  its 
apprehension  and  the  apprehensions  previously  attained 
by  the  prophet. 

A  mode  of  revelation  which  thus  respects  the  nature 
and  laws  of  the  spiritual  life  seems,  moreover,  to  be 
the  only  one  worthy  of  God,  For  to  assume  that 
revelations  were  made  to  the  prophets  in  a  way  that 
condemned  their  previous  apprehensions  of  truth  to 
absolute  disuse,  involves  surely  an  unworthy  conception 
of  God.  No ! — the  Spirit  of  God  is  not  for  ever 
beginning  His  work  afresh,  nor  is  that  work  to  be 
conceived  as  an  external  process  of  dismemberment, 
whose  express  design  is  continuously  to  set  aside  and 
conceal  the  inner  connexions  of  the  total  truth.  He 
rather  makes  it  His  function  to  develop  the  germs 
that  lie  concealed  in  existing  apprehensions,  to  bring 
them  by  constant  impulse  to  the  point  at  which  they 
shall  discover  their  hidden  treasures,  and  cause  the 
new  trutli  organically  to  blossom  forth  from  them 
under  the  reciprocal  action  of  tliose  influences  wdiicli 
by  the  laws  of  their  own  life-force  they  exert  upon 
one  another  in  the  natural  progress  of  their  develop- 


The  0rigi7i  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  5  9 

inent.     It  is  really  only  a  revelation  of  such  a  kind 
and  manner  that  can  be  called  worthy  of  God.  ^ 

Hence  it  follows  that  the  question  as  to  the  origin  ■  l^ 

of  a  Messianic  prophecy  is  answered  in  a  truly 
satisfactory  way  only  when  it  is  shown  how  that  origin 
has  been  psycliologically  mediated,  or  more  particularly, 
ivhat  roots  mid  qerinsof  it  were  contained  in  thejprevious 
consciousness  of  the  prophM^_g/rjidtjixi~^>J(JiM^JU^^ 
organically  developed  from  them.  In  dealing  with  any 
particular  case  we  should  have  not  only  to  investigate 
what    portion    of    the   national    life    the   prophet,   as 

'  In  the  above  dissertation  we  have  expressly  noticed  only  the  mode 
of  revelation  which  we  have  recognised  as  the  one  that  is  nsual — the 
one  that  is  to  be  presumed  as  having  been  actually  employed  in  by 
far  the  majority  of  cases.  It  would  be  easy,  however,  to  show  that 
our  exposition  is  in  all  essential  respects  valid  even  in  relation  to  the 
revelations  received  in  ecstasy  or  by  means  of  visions,  as  indeed  may 
be  seen  from  what  has  already  been  indicated  in  regard  to  the  pysjcjho- 
logical  genesis  of  the  latter  (pp.  45  f. ).  It  would  take  us  too  far  beyond 
the  proper  object  of  our  investigation,  as  well  as  the  limits  of  an 
introductory  treatise  like  the  present,  to  enter  upon  a  criticism  of  the 
view  of  Konig  (in  loc.  cit.  ii.  jip.  25-48),  that  in  their  visions  the 
prophets  saw  with  their  bodily  eyes  appearances  and  events  of  the 
supersensible  world,  which  God  summoned  before  them  in  an  external 
sensible  way.  We  remark  only  that,  on  this  point,  he  lays  the  chief 
emphasis  upon  the  fact  that,  in  describing  their  own  visions,  the 
prophets  use  only  the  verb  nVdh,  never  chclzdh  (as  a  finite  verb  or  as  a 
participle),  whereas  the  latter  word  is  used  of  the  visions  of  the  false 
prophets.  His  theory  is  that  by  this  contrast  between  rd'dh  and  chdzdh 
the  prophets  meant  to  indicate  that  their  own  visions  were  a  "proper 
seeing,"  whereas  those  of  the  false  prophets  were  "  as  produced  through 
a  psychological  medium,  not  a  seeing  in  the  proper  sense,"  rather  "  a 
projection  outwards  of  the  results  of  a  purely  internal  process"  (p.  30). 
Had  this  really  been  the  intention  of  the  prophets,  they  wonld  surely 
have  taken  care  to  mark  the  alleged  contrast  between  7-d'dh  and  chdzdh 
much  more  distinctly  than  they  really  do  (Konig  makes  use  of  Ezek. 
13.  3  in  a  way  which  the  words  do  not  warrant).  They  would  not 
have  awkwardly  concealed  it  by  using — if  not  the  verb  chdzdh  itself — 


60  Messianic  Prophecy. 

occupying  the  highest  religious  standpoint  attainable  in 
liis  time,  lias,  so  to  speak,  absorbed  into  his  conscious- 
ness through  his  acquaintance  with  the  law  and  history 
of  his  people,  with  the  prophecies  of  his  predecessors, 
with  the  constitution  of  the  theocracy,  etc.  "We  should 
have  to  inquire  also  what  knowledge  he  has  of  the 
conditions  and  circumstances  of  the  time  when  he 
writes,  what  he  has  personally  observed  and  experienced 
in  relation  to  his  compatriots,  what  acquaintance  he 
has  with  the  great  events  of  history,  and  with  the 
contemporary  circumstances  of  other  peoples,  etc. 

at  least  its  derivatives,  chdzfdh,  chdzon,  chizzdyon,  of  tlie  visions  of  the 
true  jirophets,  and,  in  a  broader  sense,  of  revelation  in  general ;  and,  on 
the  other  hand,  by  using  rd'dh  in  an  "improper"  as  well  as  a 
"proper"  sense.  Yet  Kiinig  himself  has  been  at  ]>ains  to  show  that 
such  is  in  both  particulars  the  usage  of  the  propliets  (pp.  .3-3  ff.).  The 
leal  state  of  the  case  is  as  follows :  rd'dh  is  by  its  root-meaning  the 
proper  and  usual  prose  word  in  ancient  Hebrew  for  to  see.  The  root 
idea  of  chdzdh,  on  the  other  hand,  is  that  of  the  material  action  of 
xplitthui,  cletivincj  asunder.  Hence,  in  a  spiritual  sense,  it  is  a  choicer 
word  than  rd'dh.  In  ancient  Hebrew  it  is  thus  used  mainly  in  poetry, 
or  else  for  the  sake  of  variety  in  expression,  as  a  synonym  with  rd'dh 
(cp.  Ex.  24.  10  f.,  Isa.  30.  10,  Job  19.  26  f.).  In  later  Hebrew,  how- 
ever, especially  in  the  Books  of  Chronicles,  it  is  used  with  equal 
freiiuency  in  prose.  Thus  rd'dh  and  hir'dh  were  undoubtedly  the  words 
most  suitable  and  readiest  to  hand  to  denote  visions  that  were  real  in 
the  sense  of  being  referable  to  God  as  their  author,  and  it  is,  as  a  rule, 
of  such  visions  that  we  have  i)rose  accounts.  On  the  other  hand,  chdzdh 
(of  which  there  is  no  Hiph'il  in  general  use)  is  not  of  itself  sufficient  to 
denote  the  pretentious  Htlf-dectivhuj  character  of  the  visions  of  the 
false  i)rophets.  For  this  such  common  additions  as  shdv',  shek-er, 
millihban},  etc.  (vanity,  falselinod,  from  their  heart),  are  necessary. 
In  sj>ite,  moreover,  of  all  that  Kiinig  says,  the  fact  cannot  be  blinked, 
that  the  derivative  ro'eh  is  used  in  Isa.  28.  7  of  the  visions  of  false 
Jirophets  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  chozim  is  used  in  Is.  30.  10  as 
parallel  to  ro'im,  and  that,  in  words  uttered  by  the  jjrophet  himself, 
not  in  those  cpioted  from  the  people,  and  is  therefore  not  exclusively 
referable  to  the  false  prophets. 


The  Ori(jin  of  Messianic  I'ropliccy.  6 1 

In  dealing,  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  question  as 
to  the  origin  of  Messianic  prophecy  in  general,  the  one 
essential  matter  is  to  perceive  that  the  prophets  were 
above  others  those  members  of  the  theocratic  nation 
who  had  the  law  of  their  God  in  their  heart  (Ps.  37^ 
31,  Is.  51.  7,  cp.  Deut.  30.  14),  or,  to  express  the  same 
thing  more  generally,  that  they  before  others  were,  so 
to  speak,  the  bearers  and  representatives  of  the  religion<' 
of  Israel.      And  if   the  obvious   admission  be  made, 
that  the  most  essential  element  in  Messianic  prophecy 
is  of  an  ideal  as  distinguished  from  a  concrete  character,v 
— not  relating,  i.e.,  to  the  details  of  future  history, — we 
shall  have  to  exhibit  the  requisite  organic  connexion 
between  the  truths  revealed  to  the  prophets  and  their 
previous  religious  knowledge  as  on  the  whole  mainly 
a  purely  genetic  one.    That  is  to  say,  the  revealed  truths 
will  appear  in  greatly  preponderating  measure  as  but  the 
development  of  an  already  existing  germinal  knowledge — 
a  development,  albeit,  that  is  not  effected  by  the  conscious . 
exercise  of  the  prophet's  own  understanding  and  reason./ 

We  must  not  seek  to  prove  that  this  germinal 
knowledge  belongs  to  the  scries  of  those  isolated  prophetic 
utterances  which  have  been  communicated  in  the  course 
of  the  Old  Testament  narrative  from  the  so  -  called 
Proto-Evangel  down  to  the  time  of  the  prophets.  At 
least  we  must  not  claim  that  it  does  so  exclusively  or 
even  chiefly.  Historical  criticism  cannot  find  in  the 
traditions  regarding  these  prophetic  sayings,  which  are 
preserved  in  the  Pentateuch,  a  foundation  for  a  history^ 
of  prophecy  which   should  reach  back  to  the  time  of 


62  Messianic  Prophecy. 

tlie  Patriarchs  and  the  beginnings  of  the  human  race. 
In  a  first  view  it  can  recognise  in  them  only  a 
testimony  to  the  fact  that  in  later  times  and  under 
tlie  influence  of  prophecy  certain  views  were  formed 
regarding  the  economy  of  revelation  which  was  pre- 
paratory to  and  prophetic  of  the  kingdom  of  God  founded 
in  Israel.  ]3ut  even  if  a  properly  historical  character, 
in  the  fuller  sense,  were  rightfully  claimed  for  these 
traditions,  the  opinion  that  the  Messianic  element 
in  prophecy  must  trace  its  roots  and  first  begin- 
nings specially  to  them  would  still  be  unwarranted. 
Were  this  opinion  in  accordance  with  the  facts,  we 
should  necessarily  expect  to  find  in  Messianic  prophecy 
— from  its  beginning  onwards — characteristic  references 
to  these  primitive  models  of  Divine  promise.  We 
should  find  points  of  connexion  with  them,  echoes  of 
them.  But  where  shall  we  look  for  the  effects  on 
Messianic  prophecy  of  such  conceptions  as  that  of  the 
seed  of  the  woman  that  should  bruise  the  head  of  the 
serpent,  or  of  the  blessing  of  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  in  the  seed  of  Abraham,  or  of  the  star  tliat 
should  rise  from  Jacob  ?  The  soil  from  which  the 
spirit  of  revelation  caused  such  conceptions  to  grow  is 
manifestly  much  broader  and  more  comprehensive  than 
the  contents  of  those  isolated  oracles  of  which  tradition 
reported.  It  comprehends  the  general  principles  and 
fundamental    trutlis    of    the    Old    Testament    faith.  * 

•  A  work  therefore,  like  that  of  von  Ouei.li's  cited  above,  wliich 
])roun.ses  to  exhibit  OKI  Testament  projOiccy  "in  its  hi.storical  develop- 
ment," ought  not  to  be  content  with  the  traditional  mode  of  showing 
how,  beginnJHg  from  the  so-called  Troto-Evangel,  prophecy  advances 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  6  3 

Hence  our  object  will  be  to  show  hoiu  it  was  both 
possible  and  necessary  that  the  Messianic  hopes  andS 
prophecies  should  proceed  from  the  inmost  heart  of  the 
religion  of  the  ancient  covenant-people,  —  a  religion 
founded  and  developed  by  Divine  revelation.  We  must 
discover  in  the  essence  of  this  religion  the  ground  of 
that  expectant  look  and  effo7't  forwards  to  a  glorious 
consummation — foreordained  by  the  unalterable  decree 
of  God,  and  to  be  reached  "  in  the  end  of  the  days"^ — 
which  are  so  characteristic  of  it,  and  have  made  it,  alone 
of  the  religions  of  antiquity,  the  religion  of  hope.^ 

Now  it  may  be  said  in  general  that  this  ground  lay 
in  the  idealism  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  of  revela- 
tion. It  lies,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  fact  that  revelation 
implanted  in  the  religious  consciousness  of  Israel  ideas ■ 
of  such  great,  deep,  and  rich  significance,  that  it  was 
never  possible   to  recognise  in  actual   conditions   and 

through  such  stages  as  the  Blessincj  of  Noah,  the  Promises  to  the 
Patriarchs,  the  Blessing  of  Jacob  (so  called),  the  PropJiecies  ofBalaatn, 
etc.,  to  ever-increasing  definiteness.  The  whole  style  of  treatment  is 
misleading  and  unhistorical.  In  Hengstenberg's  Christology  it  corre- 
sponds indeed  with  the  author's  standpoint,  whereas  in  von  Orelli  it 
appears  only  as  the  result  of  a  one-sided  supernaturalism,  and  of  tradi- 
tional views  of  the  authorship  of  the  Old  Testament  writings,  that  do 
not  harmonise  with  his  own  main  positions.  Cp.  Stud.  u.  Kritik.  1883, 
pp.  807  ff. 

1  [The  Vacharith  hayydmlm  of  Isa.  2.  2,  Micah  4.  1,  etc. — Tk.] 
^  KtJPER  (in  loc.  cit.  pp.  48  and  55)  considers  the  above,  along  with 
the  inferences  we  proceed  to  draw  from  it,  "likely  to  lead  to  grave 
misapprehensions,"  on  the  ground  that  it  fails  "to  do  full  justice  "  to 
the  objective  character  of  Messianic  prophecy.  But  his  objection  : 
"Prophecy  is  not  a  psychological  product,  but  a  Divine  revelation," 
does  not  touch  my  argument,  as  I  have  not  denied  to  prophecy  the 
attribute  of  revelation.  At  the  same  time,  however,  I  did  endeavour 
to  "do  full  justice  "  to  the  proposition,  which  even  he  concedes  (p.  54) ; 


G4  Messianic  Propliecy. 

circumstances  any  measurable  approximation  to  their 
perfect  realisation,  ideas  that  at  every  stage  in  the 
development  of  religious  life  and  knowledge  in  Israel 
revealed  more  of  their  proper  depth  and  richness,  and 
whose  power  thus  necessarily  gave  to  the  religious  life 
at  every  point  of  its  development  that  peculiar  direction 
forwards  to  a  still  future  goal.  The  more  keenly  a 
pious  Israelite  realised  the  contradiction  between  the 
idea  and  the  reality, — and  who  could  be  more  aware  of 
it  than  the  prophet,  distinguished  by  the  intensity  of 
his  religious  life  and  the  wealth  and  purity  of  his  reli- 
gious and  ethical  knowledge  ? — the  more  necessarily  did 
his  faith,  hope,  and  longing  direct  themselves  to  the 
future  and  final  removal  of  the  contradiction,  and  the 
perfect  realisation  of  tlie  idea.  We  have  now  to  con- 
sider more  minutely  the  most  important  of  these  ideas, 

that  the  revealinpj  operations  of  tlie  Divine  Spirit  maintain  them- 
selves in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  the  human  spirit,  and  that  therefore 
all  revelation  is  psychologically  mediated.  Kiinig's  adverse  criticism 
(ii.  pp.  303  ff.)  culminates  in  the  proposition  :  that  God  has  so  revealed 
Himself,  "  that  there  is  no  genetic  connexion  between  human  historical 
development  and  Divine  revelation,"  and  that  "there  is  no  ground 
for  wonder  that  God  has  not  rooted  His  revelation  in  anything  human. " 
I  content  myself  with  the  counter  question  :  Is,  then,  the  religion  of 
Israel,  are  the  fundamental  truths  of  the  Old  Testament  faith,  something 
purely  "huinan,"  to  which  Divine  revelation  can  be  thus  absolutely 
opposed  ?  Moreover,  KiJnig  himself  remarks  incidentally  that  the 
TorcUh  Yah'^veh  (Law  of  Jehovah),  announced  by  the  prophets,  is 
"never  more  than  an  unfolding  of  ancient  germs"  (ii.  p.  335).  The 
statement  of  his  latest  work  [Die  I/auptprobleme  der  aldsraelilischtn 
Ildiyionsgcschtchte,  1884,  p.  41)  is  even  more  explicit  —  viz.  that 
"  the  universalistic  hopes  of  the  religion  of  Israel  were  the  natural  and 
necessary  result  of  the  Hebrew  view  of  the  relation  of  God  to  the 
world  ;  that  they,  in  fact,  grew  from  it  by,  so  to  speak,  the  native 
impulse  of  a  liciixj  germ." 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy .  6  5 

those,  viz.,  which  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  germinal  ideas 
out  of  which  Messianic  prophecy  grew.  In  doing  so 
we  take  for  granted  that  the  root  thoughts  of  the  Old 
Testament  religion  do  not  date  merely  from  the  era  of ' 
prophecy,  but  are  the  fruit  of  the  initial  and  funda-  ^ 
mental  revelation  mediated  by  Moses,  and  belong  ' 
therefore  to  the  pre-prophetic  period.  The  right  to^ 
this  assumption  rests  on  the  indisputable  fact  that 
even  the  oldest  prophets  announce  these  root  thoughts 
as  old  truths,  which  were  made  known  to  the  Israelites 
at  the  time  of  the  exodus  from  Egypt,^  We  need  not, 
however,  pause  to  investigate  precisely  the  expression 
of  them  that  may  have  been  given  by  Moses.  It  is 
sufficient  for  our  purpose  to  concentrate  attention  on 
the  form  they  have  attained  when  the  prophets,  whose 
Messianic  utterances  are  before  us,  received  them  into 
their  consciousness,^  and  this  we  regard  as  something 
that  remains  essentially  one  and  the  same ;  for  the 
progressive  development  sought  to  be  traced  in  the 
teaching  of  successive  prophets,  so  far  as  it  really  exists, 
does  not  touch  the  essence  of  the  root-thoughts  them- 
selves, but  only  their  form  of  presentation,^ 

^  On  this  cp.  Smend,  Ueber  die  von  den  Propheten  des  8  Jahr- 
hunderts  vorausgetietzte  Entwiclcelungstufe  der  israelitischen  Beligion, 
in  Stud.  II.  Kritih,  1876,  Pt.  4,  esp.  pp.' 622  ff.  ;Konig  in^c.  dt.  ii.  pp. 
334-347  ;  and  his  work,  Die  Hauptprohleme  der  (dtisraelitschen  Reli- 
gionsgeschichte  gegenilher  den  Entivickelungstheoretihern  beleuchttt, 
Leipzig  1884. 

-  The  want  of  unanimity  as  to  the  literary  origin  of  the  Pentateuch,  in 
particular,  as  to  the  date  of  the  so-called  Grundschrift  (Original  or  Primi- 
tive Document),  is  therefore  to  us  a  matter  of  subordinate  importance. 

^  With  this  verdict  Reuss  agrees,  Die  Geschichte  der  heiligen 
Schriften  Alten  Tesfamenfes,  1881,  p.  316. 

E 


G6  Messianic  Prophecy. 

There  are  three  ideas  which,  above  others,  demand 

^  our  special  attention  :   the  idea  of   the  Covenant,  the 

n  immediately  related  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and, 

as  the  germ  of  Messianic  prophecy  in  the  narrower 

sense,  the  idea,  not  indeed  Mosaic,  yet  still  pre-pro- 

^    phetic,  of  the  Theocratic  Kinrjship. 

I.  The  idea  of  the  covenant  on  which  Jehovah 
entered  Avith  Israel  is  the  fundamental  and  principal 
idea  of  the  entire  Old  Testament  religion.  It  is  the 
centre  to  which  the  sum  -  total  of  Israel's  faith  and 
religious  knowledge  is  uniformly  referred.  It  governs 
the  consideration  and  presentation  of  the  entire  history 
of  Israel,  and,  indeed,  of  the  prehistoric  period,  back 
to  the  very  beginnings  of  the  human  race,  and  it  is  the 
%  root-thought  of  prophecy.  An  attempt  has,  indeed, 
been  made  of  late  to  prove  that  while  the  older  pro- 
phets (Amos,  Isaiah,  Micah)  recognise  the  existence  of 
a  special  relation  of  Israel  to  Jehovah,  they  have  not 
yet  begun  to  regard  this  relation  as  that  of  a  covenant, 
and  that  only  shortly  before  the  Exile,  in  consequence 
probably  of  the  solemn  acceptance  by  Josiah  and  the 
people  of  the  Deuteronomic  law-book,  the  idea  of  the 
covenant  that  prevails  in  Deuteronomy,  in  Lev,  17-26, 
in  tlie  Book  of  the  Eour  Covenants,^ — the  so-called  Primi- 
tive Document  of  the  Pentateuch, — and  is  assumed  by 
the  prophets  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  the  Deutero-Isaiah, 
was  advanced  to  a  central   position  in  the   religious 

'  [Tliis  document  is  now  more  ,£;oncrally  known  as  the  Priestly  Code. 
See  Appendi.x  A,  Note  IV. — Tk.] 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  67 

consciousness/  It  must  perhaps  be  conceded  that  the 
practice  of  designating  the  relation  between  Jehovah 
and  His  people  by  the  term  covenant  became  usual  with 
the  prophets  only  with  the  commencement  of  the 
Deuteronomic  period."  Still  we  must  remember  that 
the  word  occurs  in  this  sense  even  in  Hosea^  and  in 
some  of  tlie  admittedly  elder  portions  of  the  Penta- 
teuch/ Above  all,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the 
separate  elements  of  the  conception  of  the  relation  of 
Jehovah  to  Israel,  which  have  received  a  comprehen- 
sive expression  in  the  term  Ifrith  (covenant),  including 
the  circumstances,  that  the  relation  depended  upon 
the  obedience  of  Israel,  and  yet  was  not  wholly  remov- 
able on  God's  side,  can  not  only  be  traced  in  the  pages 
of  both  the  elder  and  the  eldest  prophets,  but  also  belong 
to  what  they  designate  as  truth  that  had  been  announced 
as  early  as  the  time  of  the  exodus  from  Egypt/ 

It  is  sufficient  for  our  purpose  briefly  to  unfold  the 
significance  of  the  covenant  idea  in  its  most  essential 
elements.  As  an  element  of  fundamental  importance 
we  emphasise,  first  of  all,  the  fact  that,  though  the  cove- 
nant is,  in  idea,  a  compact-relation,  involving  a  reci- 

^  Cf.  Wellhaitsen,  Oexcldchte  Isradn,  i.  1878,  pp.  434  f.,  amlPro?e- 
ijomtna  zur  Geschichte  Israeh,  1883,  pp.  442  f.    [Eng.  Trand.  p.  402.] 

-  Cp.  on  this  GuTHE,  De.  foederis  notione  Jeremiana,  Leipzig  1877, 
esp.  pp.  10  fF. 

»  Hos.  6.  7,  8.  1.  4  E.g.  Ex.  19.  5,  24.  7  f. 

■'  Cp.  Keuss,  Die  Geschichte  dvr  h.  Schriften  Allen  Testamentes,  pp. 
322  and  324  ;  KoNiG  in  loc.  cit.  ii.  pp.  338  tf. ,  and  in  the  work,  Die 
Hauptprohleme,  etc.,  pp.  84  f . ;  Bredenkamp,  Gesetz  und  Propheten, 
1881,  pp.  21  ff.  Even  Guthe  (in  loc.  cit.)  admits  that  by  his  nse  of 
the  term  l/rith  Jeremiah  has  not  imported  any  essentially  new  element 
into  tlie  conception  of  the  relation  of  Jehovah  to  Israel. 


68  Messianic  Prophcc?/. 

procity  of  obligations,  still  the  mutual  obligations  have 
been  fixed  wholly  by  the  one  side,  viz.  by  Jehovah  in 
the  exercise  of  His  unconditioned  freedom  and  inde- 
pendence. Jehovah  therefore  is  the  sole  Founder  of  the 
)H  covenant.  Tliis  is  a  view  which  is  deeply  rooted  in 
Israel's  consciousness  of  God,  and  which  notoriously 
has  stamped  itself  upon  the  phraseology  commonly 
employed  to  denote  the  establishment  of  the  covenant- 
relation/  Tlie  foundation,  therefore,  of  the  conscious- 
ness of  Israel,  as  regards  his  peculiar  relation  to  God, 
is  the  belief  that  Jeliovah,  tlie  Lord  of  the  world,  has 
in  the  absolute  freedom  of  His  gracious  will  chosen 
Israel  from  among  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  to  be 
His  peculiar  people  (Ex.  19.  5,  Amos  ?>.  2).  Now 
undoubtedly  tliere  is  a  view  which  pervades  all  the 
rentateuch  traditions,  and  occupies,  besides,  an  im- 
portant place  in  the  consciousness  of  the  prophets  (cp. 
even  Isa.  29.  22,  Micah  7.  20),  to  the  effect  that  the 
progressive  fulfilment  of  this  elective  decree  dates  from 
the  first  beginnings  of  history,  being  prepared  for  by 
the  gradual  separation  of  Israel  from  otlier  peoples, 
and  specially  by  the  relation  of  peculiar  intimacy  on 
which  God  entered  with  the  patriarchs.  All  the  Pen- 
tateuch traditions,  moreover,  tell  of  prophetic  announce- 
ments of  tliis  decree  in  the  form  of  Divine  promises 
made  to  Abraham  and  his  posterity,  and  confirmed  to 
the   succeeding   patriarchs ;  ^    and  the  designation,   in 

'  Cp.  Okhlek,  Theoloijie  des  Alien  Tesitamentes,  §  80. 

-  Cp.,  on  the  one  hand  (Elohistic),  Gen.  17.  7  f.,  28.  3  f.,  35.  11  f.; 
on  the  other  (Jehovistic),  Gen.  12.  2  f.,  13.  14  fl".,  18.  18  f.,  22.  16  If., 
26.  3  ff.,  28.  3  f. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  6  9 

the  Jehovistic  document,  of  Jehovah  as  the  "  God  of 
Shem"  (Gen.  9.  26),  in  the  blessing  of  Noah,  is  meant 
to  mark  His  future  relation  to  Israel. 

Still  it  is  only  in  the  redemptive  act  of  the  deliver- 
ance from  Egypt  that  the  elective  decree  attains  its 
full  accomplishment.  This  is  an  experience  of  the 
redeeming  might  and  grace  of  Jehovah  whicli  is 
national  and  historical,  and  it  results  from  it  that  the 
word  of  God,  mediated  by  Moses,  becomes,  throughout 
the  continuance  of  the  Old  Covenant,  the  foundation  of 
Israel's  confidence  that  Jehovah  is  his  God,  and  that 
he  himself  is  Jehovah's  peculiar  people,  whom  He  has 
separated  from  other  peoples  and  won  for  Himself 
(Ex.  15.  16,  2  Sam.  7.  23  f.).  The  redemption 
from  Egyptian  bondage  occupies  thus  in  the  religious 
consciousness  of  Israel  the  place  which  in  our 
Christian  consciousness  belongs  to  God's  deed  of 
redemption  through  Jesus  Christ.^  On  the  basis  of 
this  deliverance  and  of  the  law  announced  at  Mount 
Sinai,  the  covenant  between  Jehovah  and  Israel  is 
definitely  fixed  (Ex.  6.  2-8,  19.  4  ff.,  24.  3  ff.). 
It  is  a  covenant  with  the  people  as  a  whole,  for  God's 
deliverance  was  a  national  experience,  and  the  indi- 
vidual Israelite  is  in  covenant  with  his  God  in  the  first 
instance  only  in  so  far  as  he  is  a  member  of  the  nation. 

1  It  may  be  called  to  mind  that  even  Old  Testament  prophecy 
expressly  institutes  a  parallel  between  the  Messianic  deeds  of  salva- 
tion and  the  deliverance  from  Egypt  and  entrance  into  the  holy 
land,  regarding  the  former  as  the  second,  higher  and  fuller  realisa- 
tion of  what  was  signified  by  the  election  of  the  ancient  covenant- 
people  (cp.  e.cj.  Isa.  10.  26,  11.  1.  16,  chap.  12,  Micah  7.  15,  Jer. 
23.  6  ff.,  chap.  31,  Isa.  65.  9,  etc.). 


70  Messianic  Prophecy. 

In  consequence  of  the  election  and  tlie  covenant, 
y 
'  Jehovah   is   the    God   of  Israd.      This    hy  no   means 

implies   merely   that    Israel   shall    worship    and   obey 

Him  alone,  as  his  national  God.      It  implies  also  that 

He  will   be  what  He  is  in  particular   for   Israel,  i.e. 

that   He  will   reveal  Himself  to  Israel  as  the  living 

God,  in  His  holiness,  in  the  fulness  of  His  power,  and 

the  riches  of  His  grace.      To  this  people  it  nmst  be 

made  evident  how  merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering 

and  of  great  grace  and  truth,  He  is,  yet  how  hostile  to 

all    evil.       To    no    other    people    does    He    so    show 

Himself  as  God ;  other  peoples  are  indeed  made  aware 

of  His  Divine  power  and  holiness,  but  not  in  the  first 

instance  by  His  becoming  their  helper  and  redeemer, 

but  either  by  His  using  them  for  the  accomplishment 

of    His    decrees   regarding  Israel,  or   by  His  visiting 

them   with  judgment   for   Israel's    sake.     His   whole 

revelation  on  earth  is  thus  directly  only  a  revelation 

made  to  Israel  and  for  his  advantage.      The  beginning 

of  this  gracious  revelation  of  Jehovah  as  the  God  of 

Israel    is   the    Exodus,   which    is    thus   the    event   of 

fundamental  importance,^  but  its   continuation  is  the 

fact  that  Jehovah  dirclls  among  His  people,-  and  when 

He  has  put  them  in  possession  of  the  promised  land. 

He  reigns  among  them  as  their  present  King.     Israel 

is  made  aware  of  His  gracious  presence  and  government 

by  the   feeling  of  security,  freedom,  and  independence, 

^  Cp.  Jehovah's  self-designation  in  the  preface  to  the  Ten  Words, 
Ex.  20.  2,  and  passages  like  Lev.  19.  36,  Ex.  (i.  «  f..  20.  4(1.  and 
many  others. 

••'  Ex.  29.  45,  Lev.  26.  11  f.,  Ezek.  37.  27. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Tro'pliccy.  71 

by  the  vincibility  of  enemies,  by  the  peaceful  posses- 
sion of  his  appointed  territory,  by  rapid  numerical 
increase,  by  wise  social  arrangements,  by  material 
wealth — specially  by  the  rich  productivity  of  the 
land,  by  protection  from  plagues  and  other  national 
calamities—in  short,  by  his  national  prosperity  and 
greatness.  Yet  all  this  is  but  the  outer  side  of  the 
higher  blessing  of  salvation  vouchsafed  to  this  people  ; 
they  are  near  to  the  living  God,  can  come  to  Him  and 
inquire  of  Him,  receive  from  Him  the  most  righteous 
laws  and  ordinances  of  life,  are  constantly  directed  by 
His  Spirit  and  word  through  chosen  organs,  and  are 
heard  when  they  call  upon  Him,  It  is  by  this  that 
Israel  is  distinguished  above  all  the  peoples  of  the 
earth  (Ex.  33.  16,  Deut.  4.  7  f.).  As  the  people  who 
are  near  to  God,  and  can  come  near,  they  have  the 
dignity  and  the  privilege  of  a  priestly  people  (Ex. 
19.  6).i 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  God  as  the  Holy  One 
can  enter  on  this  alliance  with  Israel  only  in  such  a 
way  as  to  preserve — even  in  relation  to  Israel — His 
holiness,  i.e.  His  sublime  transcendence  and  His 
stainless  purity.  He  must,  so  to  speak,  sublimate 
His  chosen  and  peculiar  people  into  the  sphere  ot 
His  holiness.  He  must  lift  them  out  of  their  natural 
connexion  with  the  profane,  impure  Gentile  world, 
who  serve    false  gods.     The  opposition   of   His  holy 

^  It  is  not,  however,  implied  in  the  expi'ession  mamlekheth  kohdnim 
(kingdom  of  priests),  as  used  in  Ex.  19.  6,  that  Israel,  as  a  priestly- 
people,  exercises  the  mediatorial  function  of  representing  humanity 
before  God. 


72  Messianic  Prophecy. 

being  to  the  "  no-Gods  "  of  the  heathen,  and  to  the 
impurity  associated  with  their  worship,  must  find  its 
earthly  antitype  in  tlie  separateness  of  Israel  from  all 
other  peoples.  As  the  Sanctifier,^  therefore  (m^kaddesh), 
Jehovah  constitutes  Israel  a  holy  people  (Ex.  19.  6, 
Lev.  20.  26).  In  this  way  there  is  established  no 
mere  external  distinction,  but  rather  mainly  an  inward 
separateness  of  the  Israelitish  nationality  fiom  that  of 
other  peoples.  Their  whole  political  constitution  bears 
an  impress  distinct  from  that  of  other  States ;  "^  the 
life  of  the  people  as  a  whole  is  otherwise  ordered  and 
shaped  from  the  fact  that  it  is  placed  exclusively  under 
the  determining  influence  of  the  holy  will  of  Jehovah. 
This  peculiar  holiness  of  Israel  is  primarily  a  Divine 
endowment — a  character  impressed  upon  him  by  God. 
Yet  in  it  Israel's  problem  and  destiny  are  set  before 
him.  For  the  whole  mutual  relation  of  Jehovah  and 
Israel  is  made  dependent  upon  the  condition  that 
Israel  hear  the  voice  of  Jehovah  and  keep  His 
covenant  (Ex.  19.  5).  By  making  allowance,  in  this 
way,  for  the  reciprocity  of  obligation  implicit  in  the 
idea  of  a  covenant,  the  Old  Testament  creed  does 
justice  to  human  freedom — in  particular,  to  the  truth 
that  in  His  relation  to  men  God  does  not,  as  in  the 
kingdom  of  nature,  set  all  things  in  motion  by  the 
sole  instrumentality  of  all-pervading  force,  but  leaves 
room    for    human    freedom.      The    kingdom    of    God 

1  Ex.   31.  13,  Lev.  20.  8,  21.  8,  22.  16.  32,  Ezek.  20.  12,  37.  28  as 
compared  with  Lev.  21.  15.  23,  22.  9,  Num.  8.  17. 
-  Cp.  the  complaint  of  Lsaiah  (2.  6-8). 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Projjliecy.  *73 

founded  in  Israel  bears  an  ethical  character.  Israel 
has  to  keep  the  character  of  holiness  that  has  been 
vouchsafed  to  him ;  by  faithfulness  and  obedience  to 
his  God  and  King  he  must  remain  a  people  distinct 
from  the  heathen  peoples.  He  is  under  obligation  to 
keep  himself  as  pure  and  free  as  possible  from 
everything,  that  would  tend  to  the  dishonour  of  the 
holy  God,  to  Whom  he  is  allied,  and  with  Whom  he 
has  intercourse,  from  physical  impurities,^  as  well  as 
from  ethical  stain.^  And  the  requirement :  "  Ye  shall 
be  holy,  for  I  am  holy,"  has  no  mere  negative  signifi- 
cance ;  it  is  a  summary  of  the  entire  legislation."^ 
Judged  by  its  inmost  essence,  the  latter  is  nothing  less 
than  the  revelation  of  the  ethical  perfection  of  God, 
as  appears  in  the  form  of  the  demand,  Isa.  2.  5,  which 
implies  that  the  light  of  the  law  is  the  reflected  light  of 
Jehovah,  and  its  design  is  so  to  shape  the  national  life  of 
Israel,  that  it  will  exhibit  an  ever-increasing  resemblance 
to  the  holiness  of  God,  and  Israel  becomes  thus  in  the 
full  sense  of  the  words  a  goi  hdclhOsh,  or  holy  nation. 

While,  therefore,  the  covenant  relation  would  be 
unreal  and  inefficacious  unless  there  were  —  corre- 
sponding to  the  gracious  end  of  the  Divine  election — 
the  experience  that  Jehovah  is  Israel's  God,  and^ 
Israel  His  holy  peculiar  people,  this  experience  is  at 
every  moment  conditioned  by  the  fulfilment  on  the 
part  of  the  people  of  the  stipulations  of  the  covenant. 
On  no  other  terras  can  Jehovah  prove  Himself  Israel's 

1  Lev.  11.  44,  20.  26  ;  cp.  21.  8.  "  Lev.  19.  2,  Amos  2.  7  ff. 

3  Lev.  19.  2  ;  Num.  15.  40. 


74  Mcsdanic  Prophecy. 

God  and  Saviour.  So  emphatically  is  this  the  case,  that, 
to  meet  the  case  of  unfaithfulness  and  covenant-breaking, 
there  is  held  out  the  threat  of  a  withdrawal  of  all 
prospective  blessings,  and  of  a  series  of  severe  punitive 
judgments,  culminating  in  the  scattering  of  Israel  among 
the  heathen.  For  the  very  intimacy  of  the  relation  on 
which  God  has  entered  with  Israel,  carries  with  it  the 
certainty  that  His  jealous  anger  at  the  slighting  of  His 
holy  majesty  and  the  profanation  of  His  holy  name 
will  visit  none  so  surely  as  His  own  erring  people.^ 

As,  however,  Israel  could  not  cooperate  with 
Jehovah  in  the  institution  of  the  covenant,  it  must 
be  correspondingly  impossible  that  the  continuance 
of  the  latter  should  be  altogether  dependent  upon 
the  attitude  of  the  covenant -people.  Tlie  pre- 
servation of  the  covenant,  as  well  as  its  initial 
establishment,  must  be  preeminently  the  concern  of 
Jehovah.  The  decree  of  election  once  ixisscd,  can  neither 
be  as  though  it  had  not  been,  nor  yet  can  it  be 
made  of  none  effect,'^  because  of  Israel's  unfaith- 
fulness and  the  judgments  which  it  entails.  The 
promises  which  God  made  in  early  times  to  the 
people,  particularly  to  the  fathers  of  the  nation,  cannot 
be  annulled  through  the  guilt  of  one  generation,  or 
even  of  several  generations,  nor  can  the  purpose  of 
grace,  for  whose  realisation  Israel  was  chosen,  be 
stultified.  For  God  is  not  a  man  that  He  should 
repent ;   "  hath  He  said,  and   shall  He  not  do  it  ?  or 

1  Lev.  10.  3.  Josh.  24.  19  f.,  Amos  2.  3. 
-  Iiik/i<janiji'j  (jemacht  luerdeii. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  75 

hath  He  spoken,  and  shall  He  not  make  it  good  ?  "  ^ 
Though  men  are  unstable  and  fickle  in  their  attitude 
to  God,  there  is  not  on  that  account  any  changeable- 
ness  in  Him.^  No  human  action  can  ever  make  His 
own  purpose  impracticable  to  God.  He  must  find 
ways  and  means  of  carrying  it  out,  and  so  fulfilling 
His  promises.  —  It  may  well  be,  indeed,  that  when 
necessarily  Jehovah's  wrath  is  turned  against  Israel, 
the  exhibition  of  His  covenant-grace  is  for  longer  or 
shorter  time  suspended,  but  the  covenant  itself  cannot 
be  for  ever  dissolved.  God  cannot  for  ever  reject  His 
chosen  people,^  nor  can  He  ever  pass  upon  them,  as 
upon  heathen  peoples,  a  decree  of  annihilation.  In 
view  of  the  covenant  which  He  Himself  has  founded, 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  by  election  and  by  the  promise 
sworn  to  the  fathers,  Israel  is  and  remains  His  peculiar 
people,  God's  judgment  must  be,  as  regards  Israel,  of 
the  nature  of  chastisement^  appointed  in  love,  to  convert 
the  people  to  Himself.  God,  moreover,  knows  how 
to  carry  out  His  loving  intention,^  whether  it  be  by 
the  chastisement  itself,  or  by  the  glorious  exhibition 
of  His  preventive  grace,  which  puts  to  shame  and 
eventually  conquers  even  an  obstinate  contumacy.'^ 
And  so  soon  as  the  intention  of  love  is  effected,  or 
even  while  it  is  being  effected,  the  covenant  reverts  in 
full  force :  God  shows  Himself  again  Israel's  God  and 

1  Num,  23.  19,  1  Sam.  15.  29.         ^  ^3,1.  3.  6. 

3  Cp.  e.g.  Lev.  26.  44  f.,  1  Sam.  12.  22,  2  Kings  13.  23. 

*  Jer.  10.  24  f.,  46.  28,  Ps.  69.  27  ff. 

5  Lev.  26.  40  ff.,  Deut.  30.  1  ff. 

s  Cp.  Ezek.  16.  60  ff.,  20.  43  f.,  36.  31  f. 


7G  Messianic  Prophecy. 

Saviour  by  redeeming  him  and  makiiv^r  him  glorious  ; 
and  that  this  shoukl  be  once  and  for  ever  again  the 
final  result,  is  demanded  as  much  by  His  Holiness 
and  His  Righteousness  as  by  His  Faithfulness}  His 
Holiness :  for  the  judgments  against  Israel  consist  in 
his  being  given  over  to  the  violence  of  heathen  peoples, 
so  that  it  seems  for  the  moment  as  if  human  power 
were  in  some  degree  prevailing  against  God's  kingdom, 
and  might  effectively  obstruct  the  accomplishment  of 
His  decrees ;  as  if  there  were  ground  for  the  vain 
imagination  of  the  heathen,  that  the  God  of  Israel  had 
grown  faint  and  could  not  protect  His  own,  or  as  if 
in  human  fickleness  He  no  longer  concerned  Himself 
in  behalf  of  His  peculiar  people.  Were  He  to  leave 
His  own  in  the  power  of  the  heathen,  His  transcen- 
dent majesty,  His  absolute  sovereignty  over  the  world, 
and  the  irrevocableness  of  His  decrees  would  fail  to 
be  known  upon  earth  ;  His  holy  name  would  be  and 
would  remain  desecrated.  His  honour,  therefore, 
requires   Him    to    protect    His    own ;     for    His    own 

Y  sake,    for    His    holy   name's    sake.    He    must    again 

V  redeem  Israel ;  by  the  protection  and  redemption  of 
His  people,  and  by  judgment  upon  their  enemies.  He 
must  display  His  holiness  before  the  eyes  of  all 
peoples.- — But  His  Righteousness  also  requires  Him, 
so  soon  as  the  end  of  His  punitive  judgments  is 
attained  in  the  conversion  of  Israel,  to  take  up  again 

^  See  above,  and  cp.  e.g.  Ex.  32.  11  fT. 

»Cp.  e.g.  Num.  14.  13  11'.,  Deut.  9.  26  ff.,   Ezek.  20.  41,  38.  16. 
23,  Isa.  48.  9  ff.,  52.  5  f. 


Hie  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  7  7 

the  cause  of  His  people  against  their  heathen 
oppressors.  For  the  phrase,  righteousness  of  God,  has 
a  general  and  a  more  special  meaning.  The  former 
implies  that  the  sentiment  and  attitude  of  God 
towards  men  correspond  to  the  standard  required,  on 
the  one  hand,  by  His  absolutely  good  will  ^  and  His 
disposition  f)f  love  ;  and,  on  the  other,  by  the  relations 
existing  between  Himself  and  the  individual  or  the 
community.  His  relation  to  Israel  is,  however,  by  no 
means  conditioned  solely  by  the  attitude  of  Israel. 
It  is  rather,  first  and  foremost,  one  founded  on  His 
own  declared  will  of  grace.  While,  therefore.  His 
dealings  with  Israel  can  correspond  with  His  right- 
eousness only  in  so  far  as  they  are  in  harmony  with 
His  earnest  desire  that  in  His  kingdom  the  evil  should 
be  overcome  and  the  good  prevail,  it  is  always  required 
at  the  same  time  that  there  be  an  active  operation  of 
His  love,  such  its  vnll  meet  the  terms  of  the  covenant- 
relation.  So  soon,  therefore,  as  Israel's  conversion  is 
proved  by  his  ceasing  to  oppose  the  good-will  of  God 
in  the  above  sense,  God's  righteousness  requires  that 
He  sliould  again,  in  love,  take  up  the  cause  of  His 
people.  What  is,  on  the  one  side — in  the  entire  and 
full  sense  of  the  word — grace  ?a\di  faithfulness,  is  also, 
on  the  other,  righteousness}     But  even  in  the  narrower 

^  [I.e.  His  willino;  what  is  absolutely  good. — Tk.] 

^  Cp.  e.g.  Hos.  2.  19,  Ps.  103.  17,  and  the  many  other  passages 
in  the  Psalms  in  which — not  always  indeed  with  special  reference  to 
Israel  as  a  people — ts'dhdkdh  is  associated  with  or  is  the  rhythmical 
parallel  of  chfsedh  or  emunah  (righteousness,  mercy,  truth),  as  Ps. 
83.  5,  36.  5  f.'  10  f.,  40.  10  f.,  89.  14,  96.  13,  116.  5,  145.  17  ;  see 
also  the  use  of  tahViahdh  iu  Isa.  chaps.  40-66. 


78  Messianic  Prophecy. 

sense  of  the  term,  tlie  righteousness  of  God,  His  judicial 
right-securing  rigliteousncss  demands  that  Israel  should 
be  delivered  from  the  power  of  the  heathen  so  soon  as 
he  turns  to  liis  God.  For  Israel  has  his  rights  as 
over  against  the  heathen  ;  he  is  by  comparison  more 
righteous  tlian  they,  in  so  far  as  he  worships  the  only 
true  God  in  the  persons  of  the  always  surviving 
remnant,  who,  however  few  in  number,  are  yet  faithful 
to  Jehovah,  and  compose  the  true  stock  of  Israel.^ 
As  the  righteous  Judge,  God  cannot  suffer  the  wicked 
man  to  doom  to  destruction  one  who  is  more  righteous 
than  lie.  As  in  His  kingdom  He  undertakes  the 
cause  of  the  ])ious  man  so  as  to  protect  him  from  the 
violence  and  deceitful  snares  of  the  evil-doer,^  so  must 
He  vindicate  for  Israel,  against  the  idolatrous  heathen, 
the  rights  that  belong  to  the  people  who  worship  the 
only  true  God  ;  and  that,  by  a  judicial  act  which  at 
once  redeems  Israel,  and  destroys  liis  oppressors.' 
It  is  not  diflicult  to  see  how  Messianic  prophecy — 

!in  the  wider  sense — both  could  and  must  grow  out  of 
the  idea  of  the  covenant  whose  development  we  have 
*  traced.  It  resulted,  firstly,  from  the  contradiction  be- 
tween idea  and  reality  consequent  upon  IsraeVs  various 
disloyalties ;  and,  secondly,  from  the  contradiction  be- 
tween idea  and  reality  inherent  in  the  entire  character 
r>  of  the  Old  Covenant  and  its  theocracy, — a  contradiction 

1  1  Kin<;.s  19.  18,  HiU>.  1.  13. 

-Cp.  e.fj.  I's.  31.  1,  71.  2,  1-20.  4. 

'  For  passages  illustratiuj?  in  detail  tlii.s  a.spect  of  the  Divine 
riglitpousiiess,  i.e.  as  vindicating  tlic  peculiar  rights  of  the  covenant 
|>L'(ipli-,  sL'c  esp.  Isa.  chaps.  40-06,  e.g.  41.  10  ff. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy,  79 

which  came  progressively  to  the  consciousness  of  pious 
and  enlightened  Israelites  along  with  the  development 
and  deepening  of  religious  knowledge  and  life.  The  first 
point  does  not  require  further  illustration  of  a  special 
kind.  For  the  very  idea  of  the  covenant,  as  we  have 
developed  it,  implies  that  in  times  of  defection,  and  of 
judgments  already  present  or  even  only  in  prospect, 
the  eyes  of  all  in  whose  hearts  the  Old  Testament  faith 
was  alive  were  necessarily  turned  to  the  coming  better 
time,  in  which  God's  purpose  of  grace  concerning  Israel 
should  really  be  accomplished.  However  great  might 
be  the  defection,  and  however  severe  the  judgment, 
the  election  of  Israel,  the  unchangiDg  faithfulness 
of  God,  His  holiness  and  His  righteousness  remained 
ever  the  firm  pillars  of  the  confident  expectation  that 
nevertheless,  in  the  end,  a  day  of  redemption  would 
dawn  for  the  people  of  God, — a  time  of  salvation  in 
which  Israel  should  participate  in  the  full  blessing 
of  covenant  communion. 

The  other  point  requires  a  somewhat  more  minute 
consideration.  We  have  remarked  above  (p.  69)  that 
the  covenant  was  one  made  with  the  people  as  a  whole, 
and  that  the  individual  was  in  the  first  instance  in 
covenant  with  God  only  in  so  far  as  he  was  a  member 
of  the  nation.  Now  the  progress  of  the  development  ^ 
of  the  Old  Testament  religion  in  the  time  of  prophecy 
consists  in  general  in  this :  that  on  the  basis  of  the 
common  consciousness  of  the  nation  in  regard  to  its 
special  relation  to  God,  a  relation  of  personal  love 
and  trust,  experienced  by  pious  individual  Israelites 


80  Mcmanic  Frcyphccy. 

towards  the  God  of  Israel,  steadily  develops  itself,  and 
by  the  intercourse  of  prayer  with  God  M'ins  increasingly 
iiu    independent    significance.       The    God    of    Israel 

^  becomes  tlieir  God,  not  merely  in  so  far  as  they  are 
Israelites,  but  also  in  so  far  as  they  carry  within 
/themselves  the  consciousness  of  a  personal  reciprocal 
relation  of  possession  in  each  other  as  between  God 
and  themselves.  The  covenant-grace  becomes  a  love 
and  faithfulness  of  God  to  individual  suppliants, 
wliich  are  a  matter  of  personal  experience  witnessed 
ill  the  heart.  It  was  a  necessary  consequence  of  this 
development  of  the  subjective  religious  life,  that  it 
became  ever  a  matter  of  clearer  consciousness  and 
.stabler  conviction,  that  the  idea  of  the  covenant  was 
realised  only  in  a  very  imperfect  way  in  the  theocracy 
founded  by  Moses,  and  that  it  set  before  the  nation  of 
Israel  a  goal  that  was  still  far  distant,  but  the  attainment 
of  which,  as  its  Divine  calling  and  destiny,  was  as 
certain  in  the  long  run  as  the  Divine  decree  of  election.^ 
To  be  sure,  God  dwelt  in  the  sanctuary  in  the  midst 
of  His  people,  revealed  Himself  to  them  by  word  and 
deed,  and  led  them  by  His  Spirit.  Israel  was  a 
priestly  people,  near  to  his  God,  having  fellowship  and 
converse  with  Him.  But  as  the  theocracy  was  in  the 
first  instance  only,  so  to  speak,  an  external  State  of 
God  founded  on  the  natural  basis  of  Hebrew  nation- 
ality, and  as  membership  among  the  people  of  Jehovah 
•'  was  involved  in  the  mere  fact  of  physical  descent  from 

^    the  chosen  stock,  the  implied  relation  of  communion 

^  Sec  Apiieiulix  A,  Note  Y. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  81 

could  be  primarily,  and  for  the  people  as  a  whole,  only 
an  external  one,  and  one,  to  boot,  that  was  tied  to  the 
mediation  of  the  Levitical  priesthood.  The  idea  that 
Israel  is  a  priestly  people,  has  for  the  individual 
member  of  the  nation  in  reality  only  a  very  limited 
applicability.  Circumcision  and  the  tassels  on  the 
fringe  of  his  garment^  are  indeed  for  every  Israelite  the 
external  signs  of  his  belonging  to  God,  and  of  his 
priestly  dignity.  Furthermore,  he  exercises  his  priestly 
calling  at  the  yearly  renewal  of  covenant-fellowship  in 
the  feast  of  the  Passover.^  In  Sabbaths  and  feasts  he 
draws  near  to  his  God,  and  at  the  peace-offering  meal 
he  rejoices  thankfully  in  the  external  completion  of 
his  fellowship  with  God.  Yet  it  is  only  into  the 
forecourt  of  the  dwelling-place  of  his  God  that  he  dare 
come  ;  from  the  Sanctuary  itself  he  is  shut  out.  Only 
there  in  reverential  distance  may  he  worship  a  God 
who  is  enthroned  in  the  darkness  of  the  Holy  of 
holies,  and  only  by  priestly  mediation  can  he  bring  his 
offerings  to  his  God.  Thus  the  very  ordinances  of  the 
external  intercourse  of  worship  between  Israel  with  his 
God  contained  a  reminder  of  the  fact  that  the  covenant 
communion  with  God  was  by  no  means,  as  yet,  perfect 
or  final. — To  pious  Israelites,  however,  this  ceremonial 
intercourse  with  Jehovah  was,  by  the  mere  fact  of  its 
externality,  unsatisfactory  ;  it  could  not  in  their  eyes 
be  what  was  intended  in  the  covenant  and  the  election. 

1  Num.  15.  37  ff. 

-  Cp.  HUPFELD,    Comment,  de  primitiva  d   vera  festorum   apud 
Hebraeos  ratione,  etc,  i.  pp.  22  ff. 

F 


82  Messianic  Prophecij. 

Every  godly  man,  who  carried  the  law  of  his  God  in 
his  heart/  and  had  his  delight  in  the  commands  of 
Jehovah,  which  make  wise,  rejoice  the  heart,  and 
refresh  the  soul,  every  one  wlio  in  any  degree  knew 
from  his  own  intimate  experience  how  the  God  of  grace 
and  salvation  enlightens  and  leads  even  the  individual 
by  His  Holy  Spirit,-  how  inwardly  near  to  Him  His 
accepted  suppliants  come,  how  He  hears  and  answers 
them  when  they  call  upon  Him,  and  what  bliss  it  is 
to  be  able  to  call  God  his  inheritance  and  his  portion, 
would  necessarily  recognise  in  this  inv:ardness  of 
communion  with  his  God  what  is  most  of  all  essential 
to  the  realisation  of  the  idea  of  the  covenant.  And  it 
lay  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the  more  the 
contrast  between  the  scant  company  of  the  truly 
godly  and  the  party  of  the  worldly-minded  came  to  be 
emphasised,  the  more  did  the  difference  of  inward 
attitude  to  God  tend  to  bring  about  a  division  within 
the  circle  of  the  covenant-i)eople,  and  the  more  also  in 
consequence  did  mere  physical  membership  in  the 
covenant-nation,  and  the  outward  ritual  intercourse 
with  Jehovah  necessarily  tend,  in  the  consciousness  of 
the  godly,  to  recede  in  siguiticance  and  worth  behind 
this  truer  blessing  of  inward  fellowship  and  intercourse 
by  prayer  with  God.  It  was  not  in  present  condi- 
tions and  circumstances  when  so  many  had  forgotten 
God,  and  thought  not  of  His  commandment,  that  the 
godly  could  recognise  the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine 
intention  in  the  election  and  the  covenant,  but  only  in 

1  Vs.  37.  31,  Isa.  51.  7.  »  Cp.  e.<j.  Vs.  51.  11  f.,  143.  10. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  8  3 

a  time  when  the  covenant- relation  should  have  become 
in  the  experience  of  the  whole  iKople,  rej>resented  by  all 
its  individual  members,  that  inward  living  personal 
fellowship  with  God  which  they  themselves  enjoyed. 
It  was  their  part,  therefore,  to  await  in  lively  faith  in 
Israel's  election,  and  in  love  to  their  people,  their  God, 
and  His  Kingdom,  the  coming  time  when  the  gracious 
intention  of  the  electing  God  should  be  fully  accom- 
plislied  upon  the  entire  elect  community  by  the 
establishment  of  the  true  inward  covenant-fellowshijD, 
mediated  by  the  enlightening  and  sanctifying  opera- 
tion of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

It  deserves  in  this  connection  to  be  specially  noted 
that  the  formula  of  Divine  promise  in  the  Pentateuch 
— of  particularly  frequent  occurrence  in  the  so-called 
Primitive     Document  —  W^hdylthi     Idchem     le'lohim  ^ 
(and    I    will    be    to    you    a    God),    or,    more     fully : 
WVidyithi    Idchem    le'lohim.,    whittem    tUc^yu-li    l^'dm  - 
(and    I    will    be    to    you    a    God,   and    ye    shall    be  [j 
to  Me   a   people),  is   used  by  those  prophets,  whose  / 
language  has  come  to  reflect  a  more  minute  acquaint- 
ance  with    the   written   law,  not    only   in   the   same 
sense,^  i.e.  as   initiating   the   covenant,  but  also,  and 
mainly,   to    designate    the   relation   between   Jeliovah 
and  Israel  which  is  to  exist  in  the  perfect  time^ — a  t 
distinct    testimony    that    the    Messianic    salvation    is 

1  Geu.  17.  7  f.,  Ex.  6.  7,  29.  45,  Lev.  11.  45,  22.  33,  25.  38,  26. 
45,  Num.  15.  41. 

"  Lev.  26.  12.  ^  j^i.^  ;_  23,  11.  4. 

<  Jer.  24.  7,  30.  22,  31.  1,  32.  38,  Ezek.  11.  20,  14.  11,  34.  24,  36. 
28,  37.  23.  27,  Zech.  2.  11,  8.  8  ;  cp.  Zech.  13.  9. 


84  Messianic  Prophecij. 

apprehended    consciously    and     clearly     as     tlie     full 
realisation  of  the  idea  of  the  covenant. 

l)Ut  even  the  inward  relation  of  fellowship,  proper 

'''to  tlie  ,^odly  Israelite,  was  not  without  repeated 
painful  disturbance  and  obscuration.  For,  firstly,  it 
was  not  simply  love  to  his  people,  or  the  keen  sense 
of  community  with  them,  that  made  him  sensible  of 
the  wrath  of  God  at  the  unfaithfulness  of  his  people  ; 
he   felt   it   at   the   same   time   as   a   disturbance  and 

/T obscuration  of  his  'pc^'^onal  communion  with  God. 
For  the  undermost  ground  of  his  certainty  of  personal 
acceptance  with  God  was  no  other  than  the  conscious- 

/  ness  of  Israel's  election,  and  every  suspension  of  the 
covenant-grace  from  the  people  tended  necessarily  to 
obscure  more  or  less  his  personal  standing  of  grace. 
Hence  the  pitiful  complaints  that  God  has  cast  away 
His  people  from  before  His  face,  which  we  hear  in  the 
time  of  the  Exile,  and  which  reveal  a  deep  sense  of 
being  forsaken  by  God  in  the  hearts  of  the  godly. 
]>ut,  secondly,  the  blissful  fellowship  with  God,  en- 
joyed by  devout  souls,  was  also  liable  to  obscnration 

-^through  their  own  sin — and  that,  the  more  their 
knowledge  of  the  will  of  God  w\as  deepened,  and  the 
greater  in  consequence  seemed  the  conditions  of 
covenant  fellowship  demanded  by  Him,  Deepened 
knowledge  of  God  meant  a  deepened  sense  of  sin  and 
guilt.  They  could  indeed  attain  a  firm  and  joyful 
certainty  of  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins  (Ps.  32);  yet 
not — at  least  not  since  the  deepening  of  religious  life 
during  the  period  of  prophecy — by  the  offering  of  the 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Pj^ophccy.  85 

Old  Testament  sacrifices  of  atonement,  rather  by  their 
I  firm  faith  in  the  sin-forgiving  grace  of  God.  Tor  both 
the  haw  and  the  prophets  attest  the  gospel  contained 
in  the  proclamation :  "  The  Lord,  the  Lord  God, 
merciful  and  gracious,  long-suffering  and  al)undant  in 
goodness  and  truth,  keeping  mercy  for  thousands, 
forgiving  iniquity,  and  transgression,  and  sin.^ 

This  sin-forgiving  grace  of  God  had  not  as  yet, 
however,  manifested  itself  in  a  really  sufficient  way. 
Belief  in  it  had  not  as  yet  a  secure  foundation  in 
fact,  or  one  that  sufficed  for  every  case.  If  in  times 
of  trial  and  doubt  the  need  of  falling  back  on  some 
such  fact-foundation  made  itself  felt,  there  was  nothing 
to  which  Old  Testament  faith  could  recur  but  just 
Israel's  election  and  his  previous  history ;  and  the 
decider  the  sense  of  sin,  the  less  did  this  foundation 
seem  sufficient.  Hence  the  certainty  of  attained 
forgiveness  could  not  be  either  perfect  or  always 
present.  In  timid,  shrinking  hearts,  and  in  hours  of 
trial,  the  longing  for  it  frequently  remained  perforce 
unsatisfied,  and  so  it  came  about  that  the  godly 
minority  of  the  Old  Covenant  longed  and  hoped  for 
a  relation  of  personal  communion  with  God  such  as 
could  be  perfect  only  in  a  future  time,  when  their  sin 
should  be  removed  by  a  perfect  forgiveness,  and  every 
fresh  obscuration  of  their  joy  in  God  and  the  blissful 

1  Ex.  34.  7,  Num.  14.  18,  Isa.  1.  18,  55.  7,  Micah  7.  18.  The 
gracious  words  of  this  self-designation  are  echoed  throughout  the 
entire  Old  Testament— cp.  Ex.  34.  6,  33.  19,  Joel  2.  13,  Nah.  1.  3, 
Jonah  4.  2  ;  Ps.  86.  15,  103.  8,  111.  4,  145.  8,  2  Chron.  30.  9,  Neh. 
9.  17.  81. 


80  Messianic  Prophecy. 

sense  of  His  nearness  should  be  prevented  by  some 
mightier  and  more  lasting  operation  of  the  Spirit  of 
(}od  on  their  heart. 

This  hope,  however,  accorded  precisely  with  the 
Divine  intention  of  Israel's  election.  For  it  was 
involved  in  the  covenant  -  promise  that  God  would 
manifest  His  divine  attributes  to  Israel  by  becoming 

4  his  Redeemer  and  Saviour.  With  the  knowledge  of 
the   need  for   salvation,   there   grow   a  corresponding 

*  knowledge  of  God  as  Saviour,  as  well  as  an  insight  into 
His  purpose  of  grace  and  the  design  of  His  kingdom. 
It  became  therefore  necessarily  a  matter  of  increasingly 
clear  apprehension  to  the  godly  men  of  the  Old 
Covenant,  that  if  Jehovah  was  to  be  in  the  full  sense 
Israel's  God,  and  Israel  His  people,  there  must  he  in 
prospect   a  revelation  of  His  glorij  far  outshining  all 

^2^revious  'inanifcstations — some  neiv  and  great  deed  of 
grace  and  scdvation — something  to  remove  the  barrier 
to  full  and  lasting  covenant-fellowship — in  short,  an 

.^operation  of  His  sin-forgiving  grace,  which  shoxdd  do 
away  with  sin  fully  and  for  ever.  They  became 
always  the  more  assured  that  God  must  one  day 
take  up  His  abode  in  the  midst  of  His  people  in  some 

^wholly  different  and  far  more  glorious  way  than 
hitherto.  Every  one — did  he  but  belong  to  the  people 
of  God — should  be  truly  near  to  Him,  and  should 
participate  in  the  priestly  right  of  immediate  inter- 
course with  Him.  All,  from  the  least  even  to  the 
greatest,  should  see  His  glory  and  be  acquainted  with 
Him.     And  to  bring  about  this   result,  He  Himself 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  87 

must  circumcise  the  heart  of  His  people,  that  they 
might  be  able  to  love  their  God  with  their  whole 
heart  and  soul ;  ^  He  Himself  must  put  His  law  in 
their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts  ;2  He 
must  put  within  them  a  new  heart  and  a  new  spirit — 
even  His  own,  and  thus  constrain  them  to  walk  in 
His  commandments.'^ 

In  the  sphere  of  the  present  there  was  for  the 
Israelite  no  equivalent  to  this  hope  comparable  with 
that  which  met  his  eye  in  the  phenomenon  of  j^roj^/icc^Z-JU- 
Not  even  the  priesthood  witnessed  an  operation  of  the 
Spirit  of  God  upon  men  so  immediate  and  so  powerful, 
for  it  implied  no  such  relation  of  confidential  intimacy* 
— no  such  constant  and  lively  intercourse  with  God. 
In  prophecy,  however,  he  could  feel  —  what  the 
prophet  himself,  of  course,  in  virtue  of  his  peculiar 
experience  felt  most  of  all  —  that  there  was  the 
distinctest  possible  presentation  of  the  goal  which,  in 
virtue  of  his  election,  Israel  should  one  day  attain.  "^ 
Only  then  is  the  people  of  God  what  it  is  meant  to 
be,  only  then  is  the  idea  of  the  covenant  completely 
realised,  when  the  Spirit  of  God  shall  have  been 
poured  out  no  longer  merely  upon  individual  and 
select  organs,  but  upon  the  whole  people,  —  thus 
fulfilling  the  early  expressed  ideal  of  Moses,^  that  all 

1  Deut,  30.  6.  2  jer.  31.  33. 

3  Jer.  32.  39,  Ezek.  11.  19  f.,  36.  26  f.  ^  Amos  3.  7. 

®  In  the  remarkable  narrative  Num.  11.  16  ff.,  cp.  esp.  ver.  29  : 
"Would  God  that  all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets,  and  that  the 
Lord  would  put  His  Spirit  upon  them  !  "  Cp.  also  the  familiar 
passages:  Joel  2.  28  f.,  Ezek.  39.  29,  Isa.  54.  13,  etc. 


88  Messianic  Prophecy. 

should  Be  prophets — pupils  of  Jehovah,  ruled  by  His 
Spirit. — It  was,  moreover,  just  this  jiresentation — in 
.  the  fact  of  prophecy — of  the  goal  whicli  Israel  should 
attain  that  led  to  the  further  perception,  that,  in 
virtue  of  his  election,  Israel  had  the  same  Divine 
calling  to  fulfil  towards  humanity  which  the  prophets 
had  to  fulfil  within  the  chosen  circle,  and  that  in  some 
future  day  he  would  accomplish  his  mission  as  the 
/'Servant  of  Jehovah,  equipped  with  tlie  Divine  Spirit, 
and  entrusted  with  the  proclamation  of  the  word  of 
God.  This  perception,  as  is  well  known,  is  elaborated 
with  wonderful  clearness  and  in  most  many  -  sided 
intensely  significant  detail  in  the  prophecies  of  the 
"  Great  Unknown,"  Isa.  chaps.  40-6 G.  With  this  point 
we  need  not  concern  ourselves  further  here.  Enoucjh 
has  been  said   to  show  that  the  root-idea  of  the  Old 

(Testament  religion,  the  idea,  viz.,  of  the  covenant,  was 
a  living  germ  and  motive-power  of  Messianic  prophecy  ; 
and  how,  on  the  one  hand,  every  present  or  prospective 
judgment  of  vengeance  upon  Israel,  and  on  the  other 
every  growth  in  religious  knowledge  and  every  deepen- 
ing of  religious  life — in  particular,  every  deepening  of 
the  yearning  for  salvation — necessarily  tended  to  pro- 
duce from  this  germ  the  expectation  of  fresh  revelations 
and  deeds  of  grace,  by  which  in  the  last  days  God 
should  conduct  His  chosen  people  to  their  great  destiny. 

II.  We  turn  now  to  the  second  idea — closely  related 
to  its  predecessor — which  falls  to  be  considered  as  one 
of  the  principal  germs  of  Messianic  prophecy,  viz.  the 


Tlic  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  8  9 

4^idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Jehovah  is  the  King  of 
His  people  ;  as  in  the  sphere  of  nature  all  is  subject 
unconditionally  to  His  will,  so  also  is  it  ordained  that 
His  will  should  he  the  all-determining  norm  in  the 
Kingdom  which  He  has  erected  for  Himself  in  the 
midst  of  the  people  Israel.  All  the  circumstances  of 
His  subjects,  all  their  relations  to  one  another,  are 
'controlled  by  Him ;  all  legal  ordinances  are  l)y  Him 
established ;  every  subject  must  in  obedience  to  his 
God  and  King  observe  them  as  holy. 

In  the  Kingdom  of  God  right  is  not  to  be  over- 
borne by  violence  or  artful  stratagem,  nor  are  the 
social  weal  and  peace  to  be  disturbed,  nor,  in  general, 
are  injustice  and  crime  to  be  suffered.^  It  is  to  be  a 
kingdom  in  which  "  mercy  and  truth  are  met  together,^ 
righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each  other;'"-  and 
that  it  should  be,  and  remain,  and  always  become 
more  so,  is  the  aim  of  the  Kingly  regimen  of  God.  For 
as  King  He  is  very  specially  also  Judge,^  just  as  even 
in  the  case  of  the  human  king  the  exercise  of  the 
judicial  office  is  a  main  part  of  the  work  of  his 
calling.*     As  Judge  He  makes  it  His  task  to  uphold 

^  The  opinion  suggested  by  Vatke  {Bibl.  Theol.  i.  pp.  "207  ff. , 
260  fif.,  476  ff.),  and  shared  by  Wellhatjsen,  Stade,  and  others,  that 
the  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  a  simple  reflex  of  the  exist- 
ing human  kingdom,  is,  as  Bertheau  rightly  remarks  {Buck  der 
Richter,  2nd  ed.  on  Judg.  8.  23),  refuted  even  by  the  Song  of 
Deborah :  cp,  also  Ex.  15.  18,  Dent.  33.  5,  There  can  be  no 
question,  however,  in  any  case,  but  that  tlie  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Jehovah  occupies  a  central  place  in  the  religious  consciousness  of  the 
prophets. 

2  Ps.  85.  10.  3  Deut.  10.  17  f.,  Ps.  96.  10,  89.  14,  97.  2. 

*  Cp.  e.fj.  2  Sam.  15.  4,  1  Kings  3.  9. 


1(0  Messianic  Prophecy. 

equitable  order  and  the  autliority  of  His  law  in  His 
*r  kingdom,  to  protect  all — in  a  special  degree,  however, 
the  poor  and  the  needy — in  their  rights,  to  waive  every 
violent  transgressor  back  within  the  confines  of  right, 
to  make  evil-doers  harmless  by  frustration  of  their 
plans,  and  by  punishment,  and  by  His  judgments 
extirpate  the  incorrigible  from  His  Kingdom.  But 
here  also  the  actual  conditions  and  circumstances  were 
in  glaring  contradiction  to  the  idea.  We  know  how 
fre([uently  the  censures  of  the  prophets  are  specially 
directed  against  the  covetous  violence  of  the  powerful 
and  the  venality  of  the  judges,  and  iiow  often  in  the 
Psalms  the  "  afflicted "  must  cry  to  God  for  help, 
because  as  persons  w^ithout  either  protection  or  rights, 
they  are  given  over  to  their  powerful  persecutors. 
Too  often  in  the  kingdom,  that  w^as  designed  to  be  a 
kingdom  of  righteousness,  the  reins  of  power  were  in 
the  hands  of  evil-doers ;  too  often  must  those  wlio 
were  "  quiet  in  the  land  "  ^  learn  by  bitter  experience 
liow  little,  as  yet,  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  a  kingdom 
"^  of  peace  ;  in  actually  existing  conditions  and  circum- 
stances the  Kingly  government  of  Crod  was  still  but 
faintly  visible.  How  natural,  therefore,  the  yearning 
and  hope  for  a  time  in  which  the  wicked  should  no 
longer  be  able  to  disturb  the  righteous  ordinances  and 
the  peace  of  the  Kingdom  of  God !  How  natural 
the    confident    expectation  that  in  some  future  time 

/  Jehovah  Himself  would  take  over  and  conduct  in  a 
far  more  perfect  manner  the  Kingly  government  of  His 

^  Vs.  35.  20. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  rrophccy.  9 1 

'pco'plc,  so  as  to  suppress  all  crime,  and  bring  His  King- 
dom into  entire  conformity  with  its  ideal !  ^ 

Here  also,  however,  the  contradiction  between  idea 
and  reality  was  inherent  in  the  very  nature  and 
character  of  the  Old  Testament  theocracy  itself.  It  was 
a  natural  kingdom  of  God,  lying  within  the  narrow 
bounds  of  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  confined  to  the 
chosen  people  Israel.  Only  within  these  bounds  was 
Jehovah  known  and  worshipped  ;  only  here  did  His 
royal  will  attain,  at  least  in  the  better  times,  recogni- 
tion and  accomplishment.  At  the  most,  the  influence 
of  His  regimen  did  not  extend  beyond  some  tributary 
neighbours,  whom  it  affected  only  in  a  limited  degree. 
And  yet  Jehovah,  the  God  of  Israel,  is  the  only  true 
God,  and  all  the  gods  of  other  peoples  are  dead 
nothings ;  ^  to  Him  alone  therefore  all  honour  and  ^ 
worship  are  due ;  to  Him  every  knee  should  bow,  and 
every  tongue  swear.^  As  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth, 
Israel's  King  is  also  King  and  Lord  of  the  whole  earth,* 
tlie  King  of  all  kings,  and  the  Lord  of  all  lords ;  ^ 
therefore  all  peoples  should  serve  Him  and  obey  His 
commandment.  As  with  His  kingly,  so  with  His 
judicial  office ;  it  also  extends  over  the  whole  earth,*^ 
and  hence  most  frequently  the  "  earth,"  the  "  world," 
the  "  peoples,"  the  "  nations," ''  are  named  as  the  object 

1  Cp.  e.g.  Isa.  24.  23,  52.  7,  Micah  4.  7. 
-  Cp.  Deut.  4.  35.  39,  32.  39  et  passim.  ^  jsa.  45.  23. 

*  Josh.  3.  11.  13,  Ps.  47.  7,  Ex.  19.«5,  Ps.  24.  1,  etc. 
5  Deut.  10.  17.  6  Cp.  Gen.  18.  25. 

^  Cp.  DiESTEL,  "Die  Idee  der  Gereelitigkeit  im  Al ten  Testament," 
in  tlie  Jahrbikhcriifur  deutsche  Theologie,  v.  1860,  pp.  17G  f. 


92  Messianic  Prophecy. 

of  His  judicial  activity,  and  even  His  judgment  of 
Israel  is  commonly  represented  as  a  judgment  of 
the  world.  Hence  also  the  legal  ordinances  of  His 
Kingdom  must  come  into  force  everywhere  on  earth, 
and  by  His  judicial  activity  righteousness  and  peace 
must  be  secured  among  all  peoples.  It  belonged 
essentially  to  the  idea  of  God,  prevalent  among  his 
countrymen,  that  the  Israelite  should  claim  the  whole 
earth  as  the  kingdom  of  his  God.  For  this  idea  con- 
tained from  the  first  the  power  of  lifting  its  possessor 
above  the  initial  particularism  of  the  Old  Testament 
religion ;  in  it  lay  the  fertile  germ  of  the  knowledge 
that  in  the  time  of  its  accomplishment  in  the  future, 
the  theocracy  must  become  a  universal  monarchy  of 

T  Jehovah,  embracing  all  peoples.  The  development  of 
this  germ  might  indeed  for  a  time  be  kept  back  by 
the  power  exercised  upon  religious  perceptions  by  tlie 
nationalistic  constitution  of  the  existing  theocracy,  and 
by  the  sharp  contrast  in  which  at  first  Israel  was 
required  to  stand  to  other  peoples  ;  l)ut  with  the  actual 
development  of  the  idea  of  God  it  necessarily  con- 
tinued to  acquire  fresh  strength,  until  at  last,  breaking 
through  its  envelope  of  national  particularism,  it 
yielded  for  sprouts  and  blossom  the  Messianic  prophecy, 
that  "  in  the  end  of  the  days  "  all  peoples  should  know 
Jehovah  and  submit  themselves  to  His  law,  and  that 
by  His  kingly  government  and  judicial  activity  an  end 
should  be  put  to  all  war,  and  the  icliok  earth  hecomc  a 

V  kingdo7ii  of  jjcacc}  This  result  was  all  the  more 
^  Tlie  universalistic  tendency  proper  to  the  OKI  Testament  religion, 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  9  3 

inevitable  from  the  circumstance  that  the  Israelite 
possessed  a  full  and  clear  consciousness  of  the  linity  of 
the  humein  race.  Though  he  felt  compelled  to  regard 
the  heathen  world  as  a  massa  pcrditionis,  forgotten  of 
God/  defiled  by  the  abominations  (to'ehhoth)  of  their 
filths  (shikkntsim)  of  worship,^  and  ready  for  the  exter- 
minating stroke  of  the  Divine  vengeance,^  his  belief 
in  the  one  God,  who  sends  forth  His  Spirit  to  give 
life  and  breath  to  all  people  upon  earth,  prevented 
him  from  drawing  a  line  of  absolute  delimitation  within 
humanity.  Thus,  with  unmistakable  significance,  both 
stories  of  the  Creation  place  one  human  pair  in  the 
beginning  of  the  history  of  the  human  race.  Eve  is 
so  called  because  she  is  the  "  mother  of  all  living,  "  * 
and  all  the  nations  known  to  the  Israelites  in  the  time 
of  the  writer  of  Gen.  1 0  are  traced  back  to  the  three 
sons  of  Noali,  Were  the  interest  involved  in  such  an 
assertion  one  that  concerned  merely  physical  descent, 
we  should  see  in  it  only  a  comparatively  insignificant 
historical  conception.  In  reality,  however,  the  interest 
is  rather  an  ethico-religious  one  :  the  essential  matter 

even  in  its  infancy,  is  a  peculiarity  that  is  inseparable  from  its 
character  of  revelation,  and  that  distinguishes  it  from  all  other 
religions  of  antiquity.  The  latter  are  indeed  much  more  particvilar- 
istic.  Tiiey  allow,  of  course,  other  religions  to  exist  peacefully  along- 
side of  themselves,  or  even,  it  may  be,  borrow  elements  from  them. 
l>ut  this  toleration  results  simply  from  the  circumstance  that  they 
rest  entirely  upon  a  national  foiuidation.  Their  national  gods  profess 
neither  the  power  nor  the  desire  to  claim  recognition  from  other 
]iooples  as  the  only  gods.  It  is  notoriously  only  Buddhism  which  in 
:iny  degree  shares  the  universalism  of  the  Old  Testament  religion. 
.     1  Ps.  9.  17.  -  Isa.  35.  8,  Ezra  6.  21    9.  11. 

3  Jer.  10.  25,  Ps.  79.  6.  *  Gen.  3.  20. 


94  Messianic  Propheci/. 

is  that  tall  men  —  without  dilTerence  of  tribe  or 
nationality — owe  their  origin  to  one  and  the  same 
decree  of  creation,  to  one  and  the  same  creative  act 
of  the  Divine  will ;  and  that  therefore  the  nobility  of 
human  nature,  the  csscniial  relation  of  humanity  to 
God  (the  "  image  of  God  "),  the  high  destiny  of  man 
in  the  intention  of  the  Creator,  that  he  should  rule 
over  the  earth  and  enter  on  terms  of  fellowship  and 
intercourse  with  his  God,  is  something  common  to 
them  all.  The  Old  Testament  itself  indicates  this 
ethico-religious  kernel  with  sufficient  clearness  when, 
for  example,  in  Gen.  5.  3,  cp.  ver.  1,  in  the  account  of 
the  Jirst  ^  birth  special  prominence  is  given  to  the 
trutli,  that  thus  the  image  of  God  went  on  to  transmit 
itself,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  draw  attention  to  the 
implication  that  all  men  are  traceable  to  tlie  first 
man,  who  was  created  in  the  image  of  God  ;  or  when, 
again.  Gen.  9.  5  f.  expresses  the  sacredness  and  inviol- 
ability of  human  life  in  general,  postulating  at  the 
same  time  the  fundamental  truth  that  man  is  created 
in  the  image  of  God;  or  yet  again,  when  the  bloorl 
relationship  of  all  men  or  their  derivation  from 
one  and  the  same  Creator  is  made  the  motive  that 
ought  to  induce  the  fulfilment  of  the  duties  of  mercy 
and  neighbourliness  towards  inferiors.-  But  if  tliu 
historical  conception  of  the  descent  of  all  human  beings 
from  one  pair  contains  this  ethico  -  religious  kernel,"' 

1  I.e.  according  to  the  Prbnilive  Document. 
-  Cp.  e.g.  Isa.  58.  7,  Prov.  14.  31,  17.  5,  Job  31.  \b,  etc. 
•*  To  this  kernel  let  those  be  referred  who  arc  afraid  that  th(>  eoni- 
bincd  efforts  of  philological  and  historical  iiKiuiry  on  the  one  liainl, 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  95 

there  must  have  been  in  the  consciousness  of  thej 
Israelite  but  a  step  between  it  and  the  perception,! 
that  in  accordance  with  its  destination  all  humanity 
would  one  day  attain  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God, 
serve  Him  in  His  Kingdom,  live  in  His  fellowship, 
and  have  converse  with  Him,  for  only  thus  could 
there  be  fully  attained — what  the  Old  Testament 
everywhere  regards  as  the  last  end  of  the  creation 
and  history  of  the  world — the  honour  and  glory  of 
God  Himself. 

To  the  question,  In  ivhat  'precise  v:ay  the  Kingdom  of 
God  vjould  become  a  universal  monarchy,  emhracing  allf 
peoples,  the  idea  of  the  covenant  supplied  an  answer. 
How  can  the  one  living  God  reveal  His  properly  Divine 
attributes  to  Israel,  and  yet  fail  to  attract  the  notice 
of  the  nations  whose  gods  are  dead  nothings  ?  Shall 
the  fact  that  the  accomplishment  of  His  counsel  con- 
cerning Israel  remains  at  once  the  centre-point  and 
the  goal  of  God's  government  of  the  world,  fail  to  the 
last  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  Gentiles  to  what  He 
does  in  and  for  His  people  ?  How  were  such  a  result 
conceivable  in  presence  of  such  facts  as :  that  Assyria, 
with  her  schemes  of  conquest,  is  only  an  instrument  in 
His  hand  ;^  or  that  the  mighty  Nebuchadnezzar  is  but 

and  of  physiology  on  the  other,  may  possibly  establish  the  conelu.siou 
that  the  human  race  could  not  have  spread  itself  over  the  earth  from 
one  starting-point.  The  kernel  of  ethico-religions  truth  would  remain 
unafiected  by  such  a  result.  This  full  and  clear  consciousness,  more- 
over, of  the  unity  and  homogeneousness  of  the  human  race  is  another 
of  those  peculiarities  of  the  Old  Testament  religion  which  distinguish 
it  from  all  the  other  religions  of  auticjuity. 
1  Isa.  10.  5.  15. 


96  Messianic  Prophecy. 

His  "servant"'  to  ficcomplish  upon  Israel  a  chastise- 
ment ordained  l)y  Ilini  and  announced  long  before ;  or 
/that  Cyrus  is  Jehovah's  shepherd,  His  anointed,  the 
man  of  His  counsel,-  whom  He  has  raised  up  for  the 
sake  of  }Iis  servant  Israel,  and  to  whose  every  under- 
taking He  grants  success  with  a  view  to  the  accom- 
plishment of  His  judgments  upon  the  Chaldeans,  and 
the  fulfilment  of  the  long-promised  redemption  of  His 
l)eculiar  people  ?  '^  Even  in  the  Jehovistic  portions  of 
tlie  Pentateuch  this  result  of  God's  acts  upon  Israel  is 
definitely  indicated.  Thus  in  Num.  14.  21  Jehovah 
swears :  "  In  very  deed,  as  I  live,  and  as  all  the  eartli 
shall  he  filled  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord,*  all  these 
men,"  etc., — signifying  not  only  that,  according  to  God's 
will  and  decree,  the  glory  of  Jehovah  should  one  day 
be  manifest  to  tlie  whole  world,  but  also  (as  judged  by 
the  context)  that  His  vengeance  upon  the  generation  led 
out  from  Egypt,  who  had  seen  His  glory  and  yet  had 
despised  and  rejected  Him  (ver.  22),  served  to  carry 
out  tliat  decree.  IJut,  besides  the  part  played  by  this 
judicial  revelation  of  His  glory,  a  similar  purpose, 
according  to  other  passages,  is  served  by  His  gracious 


1  Jcr.  2.5.  9,  27.  6,  43.  10,  -  Lsa.  44.  28,  45.  1,  46.  11. 

'Isa.  41.  2,  43.  14,  44.  28,  45.  1.  13. 

"*  Knukkl's  I'lMiiark  on  tliis  passage,  "He  lieais  the  iutcrcessory 
petition,  bnt  swears  at  tlie  same  time  that  the  eartli  shall  be  filled  witli 
His  glory,"  is  inaccnrate.  The  subjeet-mattev  of  the  oath,  introduced 
by  ki,  begins  to  be  stated  only  in  ver.  22  f.  Bunsen's  translation, 
"  And  all  the  world  is  full  of  tlie  ^lory  of  the  Eternal,"  is,  however, 
also  wrong,  being  forbidden  by  the  Im[)erf.  n^yimmCiW;  ep.  Ps.  72.  19; 
and,  for  the  usage  to  exjiress  the  present,  lsa.  6.  3,  Ps.  33.  5,  119.  64. 
Kkil  rightly  objects  to  the  presential  sense  in  the  Numbers  passage. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy,  9  7 

exhibition  of  His  Divine  attributes  in  mercy  to  His 
chosen  people.  We  refer  particularly  to  the  well- 
known  promise  to  the  patriarchs :  "  And  all  peoples  (or 
families)  of  the  earth  will  hless  themselves  (or  be  blessed) 
in  (or  by)  thee  (or  thy  seed)."  ^  For  even  according  to 
the  rendering  that  is  supported  by  the  parallels,  Gen. 
48.  20,  Ps.  72.  17,2  and  now  generally  admitted »  to 
be  the  right  one,  at  least  in  those  passages  where  the 
Hithpael  is  used, — the  rendering,  viz.,  that  conveys  the 
sense  that  all  peoples  in  invoking  blessing  upon  them- 
selves will  wish  for  themselves  the  blessing  that  shall 
have  become  the  recognised  property  of  the  patriarchs 
and  their  descendants, — the  words  imply  at  least  that 

1  Gen.  12.  3,  18.  18,  22.  18,  28.  4,  28.  14. 

^  Cp.  also  Dent.  29.  19,  Isa.  65.  16,  Jer.  4.  2;  and  for  the  opposite 
(the  curse).  Num.  5.  21,  Isa.  65.  15,  Jer.  29.  22,  Zech.  8.  13,  Ps.  102.  8. 

^  Cp.  Heno.stenberg,  Ghristologie,  2nd  ed.  i.  p.  52.  That  in  the  pas- 
.sages,  where  instead  of  the  HUhpa'el  the  Niph'al  is  used,  the  promise  is 
to  be  taken  in  the  different  sense,  that  all  peoples,  etc.,  are  to  he  blessed 
through  or  in  Abraham  and  his  seed,  as  Hengstenberg,  Keil  (on  Gen. 
12.  3),  and  others  assume,  could,  in  view  of  the  indisputable  fact  that 
the  Niph'al  had  originally  a  reflexive  force,  in  case  of  need  be  admitted 
only  in  the  event  of  GusTAV  Bauu's  {Geschichte  der  altte.ftamentlichen 
Weissarfung,  i.  pp.  205  ff. )  view  proving  correct — viz.  that  the  passages. 
Gen.  22.  18  and  26.  4,  are  by  a  different  author  from  the  other  pas- 
sages— a  supposition  which,  at  least  as  regards  Gen.  22.  18,  we  consider 
unfounded.  But,  even  granting  the  supposition,  the  passive  rendering 
of  the  Niph'al  would  be,  in  view  of  the  context,  specially  that  in  Gen. 
12,  improbable.  For,  apart  from  the  words  in  Gen.  12.  2,  "  And  be 
thou  a  blessing,"  which  are  to  be  explained  according  to  Zech.  8.  13, 
and  which  therefore  support  our  interpretation,  how  can  it  be  supposed 
jirobable  that,  immediately  after  a  promise  to  the  patriarchs  themselves 
of  a  blessing  in  the  form  of  numerous  posterity,  victorious  dominion 
over  all  enemies,  and  the  possession  of  Canaan,  the  spiritual  blessing 
of  a  knowledge  of  the  true  God  proceeding  from  Israel  should  be  held 
out  prospectively  to  the  peoples  of  the  earth  (Baur,  p.  215)  ?  Even 
Delitzsch  has  set  his  seal  to  the  right  rendering  (on  Gen.  12.  3). 

G 


98  Messianic  Ffajpliecy. 

all  nations  will  recognise  in  the  Israelites  the  "  blessed  of 
Jehovah"  (Isa.  G5.  23),  or,  more  definitely,  the  people 
who  alone  are  blessed  of  their  God,  who  is  the  true,  God. 
They  imply,  therefore,  that  the  grace  of  God,  which 
displays  itself  to  Israel  with  its  burden  of  blessing, 
will  attract  the  regard  of  all  peoples,  and  awaken  in 
them  the  longing  to  participate  in  the  like  blessing.^ 
The  thought  that  God's  deeds  of  judgment,  and  espe- 
cially His  deeds  of  grace  and  redemption  towards  Israel, 
must  fill  the  nations  with  an  astounding  admiration 
and  fear  of  the  power  of  the  Living  God,  is  expressed 
in  other  parts  of  the  Old  Testament — particularly  in 
the  prophets — more  frequently  than  in  the  Pentateuch. 
It  is,  in  fact,  a  fundamental  thought  of  prophecy 
peculiarly  appropriate  to  its  character.  Why,  then, 
should  not  the  last  great  act  of  God's  grace  towards 
Israel,  in  which  He  manifests  Himself  in  the  sight  of 
the  nations  in  the  fulness  of  His  glory  and  helpful 
grace,  make  an  overpowering  impression  upon  them, 
convince  them  of  the  vanity  of  their  idolatry,  and  of 
the  sole  Godhead  of  Jehovah,  and  thus  bring  about  the 
extension  of  the  theocracy  among  all  peoples  ?  How 
the  knowledge  of  the  2>^'ophctic  vocation  of  Israel,  which 
originated  in  the  idea  of  the  covenant,  contributed  a 
fresh  light,  which  revealed  the  human  instrumentality 
by  means  of  which  the  nations  should  be  brought  into 
the  kingdom  of  God,  has  already  been  indicated  above.- 

'  Cp.  the  beginning  of  tlie  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy  in  Gon.  26. 
28  f. 

*  Cp.  my  article,  "  Der  MissionsgeJanke  im  Alten  Testament,"  in 
Dr.  "Warneck's  Allijem.  Alinnioutizcitschrift,  1880,  pp.  453  ff. 


The  Oi'igin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  9  9 

Finally,  all  that  comes  under  the  designation  of  evil  i 
can  have  no  place  in  the  perfected  kingdom  of  God. 
For,  according  to  Old  Testament  belief,  evil  exists  in 
the  world  only  because  of  sin — indeed,  in  the  first 
instance  only  as  its  punishment.  It  is  the  immediate 
consequence  of  the  fact,  that  God  conceals  His  face  in 
wrath.  But  when  in  the  last  days  sin  has  been 
removed  for  ever  by  perfect  forgiveness,  and  fresh 
defection  prevented  by  the  writing  of  the  law  of  God 
upon  the  hearts  of  His  subjects,  the  power  of  God, 
that  redeems  from  evil  and  is  rich  in  resource,  and  the 
salvation  and  life  which  accompany  His  gracious  pre- 
sence, must  also  be  manifested  in  full  measure  in  the 
perfected  Kingdom.  All  the  misery  resulting  from  sin 
and  God's  judgment  upon  it  must  have  disappeared, 
that  the  peace  and  bliss  of  the  original  Paradise  may 
be  restored.  Hence  the  features  of  Messianic  prophecy 
that  are  borrowed  from  the  familiar  pictures  of  the 
original  condifeion  of  the  world  and  humanit}' :  no  more 
sickness  ;  ^  patriarchal  longevity  ;  -  peace  among  the 
beasts,  as  among  human  nations,  and  peace  between 
man  and  beast ;  ^  the  holy  land  made  like  the  garden 
of  Eden,*  transformed  into  it  by  the  wonderful  stream 
that  goes  forth  from  the  dwelling-place  of  Jehovah,-'"'  is 
laden  with  blessing,  and  makes  even  the  waters  of  the 
Dead  Sea  healthful,*"  with  the  trees  of  life  on  its  banks, 
whose  never-failing  fruits  are  for  food,  and  its  never- 

'  Isa.  33.  24.  -  Isa.  65.  20,  Zeuh.  8.  4. 

3  Hos.  2.  18,  Isa.  11.  6  tf.,  65.  25.        *  Ezek.  36.  35. 
*  Cp.  Joel  4.  18,  Zech.  14.  8.  «  Cp.  Gen.  2.  10  ff. 


100  Messianic  Prophecy. 

fading  leaves  for  healing ;  ^  finally,  the  destruction  of 
the  power  of  death  itself  and  the  end  of  all  weeping. ^ — 
Further,  as  God  in  His  judgments  usually  shows  Him- 
self at  the  same  time  also  as  Lord  of  Nature,  by  drawing 
her  into  a  companionship  of  suffering  with  men,  for 
whose  sake  as  well  as  for  the  Kingdom  of  Ood  she 
exists,  thus  giving  to  her  also  a  share  in  tlie  history  of 
the  Theocracy,  the  perfection  of  His  Kingdom  must 
necessarily  be  associated  with  the  full  display  of  His 
creative  glory  in  nature.  The  great  catastrophe  accom- 
panying the  final  judgment,  by  which  the  present  world 
is  shattered;"^  takes  place  with  a  view  to  the  renewal 
and  transfiguration  of  the  world  ;  its  result  is  tlie  new 
heaven  and  the  new  earth.^ 

Yet  again, — and  to  conclude, — let  it  be  carefully 
noted  that  all  these  expectations  necessarily  tended  to 
disentangle  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  more  and 
more  from  the  conception  of  the  existing  national 
theocracy,  and  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  perception 
tliat  the  perfected  Kingdom  would  be  of  an  essentially 
different  kind.  Where  perfected  covenant  fellowship 
is  recognised  as  an  inward  and  personal  communion  of 
all  individuals  with  God,  which,  from  its  very  nature, 
cannot  be  confined  to  any  one  country  or  particular 
place,  where  it  is  said  of  all  flesh  that  "  tliey  shall 
come  every  new  moon  and  every  Sabbath  to  the  city  of 
God  to  worship  Jehovah,"  ^  but  where  also  it  is  said,  on 

1  Ezek.  47.  1  ff. 

'^  Isa.  25.  8  ;  cp.  26.  19,  Dan.  12.  2. 

3  Isn.  24.  18  fr.,  34.  4,  51.  6. 

*  Ci'.  Isa.  30.  26,  65.  17,  66.  22.  '•>  Ish.  66.  23. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  101 

the  other  hand,  that  every  individual  in  the  countries 
of  the  nations  shall  worship  Jehovah  from  his  oiuii 
ylace^ — already  there  can  there  be  seen  shining  through 
the  thin  Old  Testament  veil  the  idea  of  a  Kingdom  of 
God,  which  shall  be  primarily  spiritual  and  heavenly. 

III.  Germs  of  individual  features  of  Messianic  pro- 
phecy lay  imbedded  in  all  the,  institutions  of  the  Old 
Testament  theocracy,  for  at  the  root  of  these,  as  well 
as  of  all  the  precepts  of  conduct  prescribed  to  Israel, 
there  lay  ideas  which  originate,  on  the  one  hand,  in 
the  fundamental  religious  needs  of  the  human  heart, 
and,  on  the  other,  in  those  eternal  conditions  of  com- 
munion between  the  Holy  One  and  sinners,  which  are 

"'founded  on  the  very  being  of  God.  As,  however,  the 
precise  way  in  which  these  ideas  came  to  be  actually 
represented  and  carried  out  was  necessarily  determined 
entirely  by  the  character  of  the  external  national 
theocracy,  the  arrangements  and  ordinances  of  the  Old 
Covenant  could  offer  no  real  satisfaction  to  the  religious 
needs  of  the  human  heart,  and  could  correspond  with 
the  conditions  of  communion  with  God  only  in  a  very 
imperfect   way.      Simultaneously,    therefore,   with  the 

■  deepening  and  spiritualising  of  religious  life,  tlie  expec- 
tation was  necessarily  awakened  that  these  arrange- 
ments and  ordinances  would  one  day  be  transformed 
into  a  shape  that  would  correspond  more  perfectly  with 
their  original  idea  and  intention,  or  else  be  replaced  by 
others,   and   that   by   an  act   of  God.     This   is   very 

1  Zepl).  2.  11. 


]  0  2  Messianic  Prophecy. 

specially  true  of  the  institution  of  sacrifice.  In  the 
period  of  prophecy  many  a  godly  and  enlightened 
Israelite  had  come  to  see  how  little  fit  animal-sacrifice 
was  to  secure  a  true  atonement  for  sin,  and  how, 
similarly,  the  washings  and  other  ordinances  of  cleans- 
ing could  have  no  inwardly  purifying  effect.  The 
announcement,  therefore,  that  God  would  in  some 
future  time  effect  in  another  way  the  expiation  of  His 

"*"  people's  sins^  met  a  longing  already  awake. 

Among  all  the  germs  of  individual  features  of  Mes- 
sianic prophecy,  however,  that  were  imbedded  in  the 
Old   Testament   institutions,  none   is   so  important  as 

-f  that  contained  in  the  theocratic  kingship,  for  it  is  from 
it  that  Messianic  prophecy,  in  the  narrower  sense  of  the 
word,  grew.  Before  closing  this  section,^  therefore,  it 
is  necessary  for  us  to  investigate  the  idea  of  tliis  insti- 
tution.^ Over  and  above  the  accounts  of  the  origin  of 
the  kingship,  the  Deuteronomic  ordinances  relating  to 
the  kingly  office,  the  prophecy  in  2  Sam.  7,  the  last 
words  of  IXavid  in  2  Sam.  2o.  1-7,  and  various  scat- 
tered references,  a  number  of  the  psalms  shed  a  special 
light  upon  our  subject.     Of  these  the  most  important 

^are  Pss.  2,  20,  21,  45,  (72),  89,  and  110."* 

'  Cp.  e.g.  Ezek.  36.  25  IF.,  Zech.  13.  1.  =  [I.e.  I'art  I.— Tr.] 

'  Cp.  on  tliis  Dir.sTEi,,  "Die  Iilee  des  tlicokratischcn  Kiinigs,"  in  the 
Jahrhb.  fiir  dfutitche  Theologie,  vol.  viii.  pp.  .536  fl".,  and  Oehlkr's 
article,  "  KiJnigc,  Kiinigthuin  in  Israel,"  in  llmog's  liealeiiojtdopadie. 
*  Doi'isive  a(jain.<it  the  Messianic  interj)retation  of  these  psalms,  and 
for  their  being  referred  to  delinite  historieal  kings  (which  ones,  we 
need  not  here  ask),  are  the  considerations  :  Jirst,  that  there  is  absolutely 
no  proof  that  the  psalmists  intended  to  designate  n  future  personage  ; 
and  necond,  that  not  a  single  expression  occurs  in  these  ]isalnis  that  goes 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  1 03 

In  the  theocracy  as  founded  by  Moses  there  was  as 
yet  no  human  kingship.  The  idea  that  Jehovah  Him- 
self conducted  the  regimen  of  His  peculiar  people,  and 
that  all  rights  of  lordship  belonged  to  Him  alone,  was 
carried  out  with  the  utmost  strictness.  True,  He  made 
use  of  human  organs  in  the  exercise  of  His  kingly 
rule;  Moses  himself,  his  successor  Joshua,  the  judges 
whom  He  raised  up  in  times  of  hostile  oppression,  were 
the  leaders  and  guides  of  His  people.  But  they  were 
not  suffered  to  claim  any  lordly  power  or  kingly  right 
over  the  people  and  land  of  Jehovah  ;  this  was  reserved 
entirely  for  God  Himself.  Their  position  rested  solely 
and  entirely  upon  the  fact  that  they  had  received  a 
personal  commission  from  the  Divine  King,  in  the 
execution  of  which  they  were  at  every  moment  entirely 
dependent  upon  Him.  As  in  later  times  the  captain 
of  the  host  stood  at  the  head  of  all  the  male  citizens 
who  could  bear  arms,  without  any  surrender  on  the 
part  of  the  king  either  of  the  lordly  power  or  of  the 
rights  peculiar  to  his  office,  these  commissioned  ones 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  people  of  God,  without  either 
independent  power  or  kingly  right.  Hence  their  office 
was  not  hereditary,  and  hence  also  there  was  always 
a  possibility  that  times  might  recur  in  which  there 
should  be  no  human  leader  at  the  head  of  the  people. 
Like  the  prophets,  they  were  extraordinary  organs  of 

beyond  what,  according  to  tlie  testimony  of  other  passages,  might  be 
said,  particularly  in  poetic  discourse,  of  some  ]jresent  king.  Only 
Ps.  72  [for  this  reason  bracketed  above. — Tk.]  will  Iiave  to  be  excepted 
as  an  echo  of  the  Messianic  oracles  of  the  prophets,  and  be  referred, 
with  greatest  probability,  to  the  future  Messiah. 


r 


104  Messianic  Prophecy. 

the  Divine  King,  to  he  "raised  up"  only  when  the  con- 
dition of  the  people  of  God  urgently  demanded  such 
extraordinary  help.  The  establishment  of  a  human 
kingship  as  a  stable  and  lasting  institution  implied  an 
unmistakable  descent  from  the  ideal  height  of  the 
Jklosaic  theocracy ;  it  was  a  materialising  and  extemal- 
isinrj  of  the  Kingdom.  The  idea  of  the  Kingship  of 
Jehovah  had  not  taken  such  a  hold  upon  the  hearts  of 
all  the  citizens  as  that  the  occasional  raising  up  of 
individuals,  mighty  in  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  should 
have  sufficed  for  the  preservation  of  the  theocracy/ 
In  consequence  of  the  actual  ethico-religious  condition 
of  the  people,  the  preservation  and  consolidation  of  the 
Kingdom  had  to  seek  attainment  rather  by  the  external 
institution  of  a  human  regimen  than  by  the  spiritual 
power  of  the  idea  of  the  theocracy.  Herein  lay  a  great 
danger;  for  the  condition  and  fate  of  the  theocracy 
thus  became  in  great  measure  dependent  upon  the  will 

I  and  conduct  of  the  one  Individnal  who  happened  to  be 
actually  in  possession  of  the  governing  power  —  a 
dependence  which  was  naturally  much  greater,  and,  as  a 
rule,  much  more  dangerous  than  any  which  could  result 
from  the  position  of  individuals  personally  called  by 
the  Divine  King  to  some  extraordinary  task.  It  im- 
pli&J,  tnoreover,  a  certain  actual  rivalry  to  the  King- 

/  ship  of  Jehovah,  a  lowering  of  His  kingly  power  and 

1  The  Song  of  Deborali  (Jiulg.  5)  praises  the  mithnnthbhlnm  bd'Cnn 
(those  otfering  themselves  among  tlie  people,  vv.  2  and  9),  who  gave 
willing  obedience  to  the  summons  of  Jehovah,  but  at  the  same  time 
takes  some  of  the  tribes  to  task  for  withdrawing  themselves  from  the 
holy  duty  of  war. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  105 

right  of  possession  in  His  people  and  land.  His  hold 
of  the  reins  of  power  became,  in  a  certain  degree, 
secondary  instead  of  immediate — a  state  of  affairs  that 
might  readily  appear  irreconcilable  with  the  idea  of 
the  Theocracy,  inasmuch  as  the  human  king  presented 
himself  as  the  nearest  possessor  of  sovereign  rights, 
with  power  over  land  and  people. 

There  was,  however,  another  side  to  the  case.  The 
human  kingship  could  hardly  be  said  to  be  really  irre- 
concilable with  the  idea  of  the  Theocracy.  Only,  it 
must  be  brought  so  completely  into  line  with  the 
Divine  Kingship,  that  Jehovah's  right  of  lordship  and 
possession  should  appear  at  the  same  time  as  that  of 
the  king,  and  vice  versa.  In  this  view  the  new  insti- 
tution was  not  something  alien  to  the  organism  of  the 
Theocracy,  or  in  contradiction  with  its  idea ;  it  pre- 
sented itself  rather  as  something  that  had  groivn  out  of 
it  as  from  a  native  germ. 

And  if  by  its  erection  the  Theocracy  lost  something 
of  its  ideal  character,  there  was  a  counter-balancing 
gain  in  the  external  consolidation,  which  the  actual 
condition  of  the  public  life  of  Israel  demanded.  For 
an  experience  which  dated  from  the  time  of  the  judges 
had  taught  that  the  security  and  independence  of  the 
theocratic  people,  as  over  against  their  neighbours,  the 
closer  connexion  of  the  individual  tribes  with  the 
unity  of  the  national  organism,  and  a  prosperous  con- 
duct of  public  affairs  in  harmony  with  the  will  of 
Jehovah,  could  be  secured  only  by  a  powerful  and 
undivided  leadership.     Some  recompense,  therefore,  for 


1 0  G  Messianic  Prophecy. 

what  the  idea  of  the  Divine  Kingship  had  lost  of  its 
native  force  throiigli  the  relaxation  of  the  ethico-reli- 
gious  spirit  of  the  people  might  fairly  be  expected  from 
its  embodiment  in  a  ])ermanent  external  institution. 
Such  a  result  lay  indeed  in  the  path  of  historical 
development  that  began  with  the  institution  of  a 
special  priesthood ;  it  corresponded  to  the  character  of 
popular  religion  in  Israel  in  its  earliest  form  (Mosaism), 
that  the  idea  of  the  Divine  Kingship  was  as  little  able 
as  tlie  idea  represented  in  the  priesthood  to  assert  itself 
in  permanent  practical  validity  apart  from  embodiment 
in  a  stable  external  institution.  Hence  it  soon  became 
possible  to  recognise  that  such  an  institution  filled  up 
a  hitherto  existing  gap  in  the  organic  system  of  the 
Theocracy,  and  that  it  was  an  arrangement  whose 
necessity  to  the  existence  and  future  development  of 
His  Kingdom  God  had  from  the  beginning  kept  in 
view — always,  of  course,  on  the  presupposition  that 
the  king  himself  conceived  his  calling  and  position  in 
a  way  conformable  to  the  idea  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
— Such  a  conception  of  the  human  kingship  is  apparent 
in  the  so-called  Primitive  Document  of  the  Pentateuch, 
in  the  promises  to  the  patriarchs  that  kings  should 
come  out  of  their  loins ;  ^  it  meets  us  in  the  oracles  of 
Balaam,  according  to  whicli  the  glory  proper  to  the 
people  of  God  culminates  in  the  kingship,  in  parti- 
cular, in  the  star  that  should  arise  out  of  Jacob.^  On 
the  other  hand,  in  the  traditions  relating]:  to  the  origin 
of  the  kingship  we  are  confronted  with  two  different 
1  Gen.  17.  6.  16,  35.  11.  ^  Num.  23.  21,  24.  7.  17. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  107 

points  of  view  which  appear  in  sharp  contrast.  Ac- 
cording to  the  one/  Samuel  is  still  entirely  of  the 
mind  of  Gideon  ^  in  his  view  of  the  inconsistency  of 
the  human  with  the  Divine  kingship.  He  acquiesces 
in  the  people's  desire  for  a  king,  originating  as  it  did 
solely  in  the  perception  of  the  accession  of  force  which 
their  heathen  neighbours  owed  to  the  institution  of 
royalty,  only  after  a  prolonged  resistance  and  in  obe- 
dience to  a  special  indication  of  the  Divine  will,  but  u 
continues  to  recognise  in  it  a  serious  offence  against 
the  rights  of  Jehovah,  a  rejection  of  Him  as  the  King 
of  the  Theocracy  ;  only  reluctantly  does  he  desist  from 
the  effort  to  maintain  the  Divine  State  in  its  old  strict 
form,  which  excluded  all  human  kingship.  According 
to  the  other  tradition,^  on  the  contrary,  Samuel  himself, 
as  a  prophet  commissioned  by  God,  called  the  new 
institution  into  being,  without  being  forced  to  it  by 
the  people.  The  question,  which  of  the  two  accounts 
is  more  in  accordance  with  the  facts  that  actually  led 
to  the  elevation  of  Saul  to  the  kingly  dignity,  may 
here  be  waived.  It  is,  however,  historically  most  pro- 
bable that  the  human  kingship  was  not  all  at  once 
generally  recognised  as  an  institution  which  fitted 
into  the  organism  of  the  Theocracy,  and  that  the 
grounds  of  this  initial  opposition  were  able  subse- 
quently to  claim  a  fresh  validity  in  view  of  the  evils 
which  experience  proved  to  be  connected  with  it.* 

1  1  Sam.  8,  10.  17-11.  15:  cp.  chap.  12.  "  Jiulg.  8.  23. 

•^  1  Sam.  9-10.  16. 

■•  The  historical  criticism,  which  has  proceeded  on  the  lines  of  Vatkp: 
(Biblische  Theologie,  pp.  260  ff. ;  cp.  esp.  Wellhausen,  Proletjomena, 


108  Messianic  Prophecy. 

At  all  events,  during  the  reign  of  Saul,  whose  govern- 
ment, more  autocva.i\c  than  tlicocxoXic,  represented,  not 
so   mucli   the  unity  as   rather   the    still   unreconciled 

4  contrast  of  the  human  and  the  Divine  kingship,  and  who 
soon  found  himself  in  fierce  conflict  with  the  existing 
representatives  of  theocratic  power,  with  prophecy  in 
the  person  of  Samuel,  and  with  the  priesthood  (witness 
the  massacre  at  Nob !),  it  was  impossible  that  the 
conception  of  the  human  kingship  as  an  embodiment 
of  the  idea  of  the  Theocracy  could  take  firm  root  in  the 
common  consciousness,  still  less  develop  itself  in  detail. 
This  could  happen  only  when  David,  a  man  after  God's 
own  heart,^  sat  on  the  throne ;  when  in  him  the  king- 
ship was   placed    in   the   right   relation   to  the  other 

-♦  organs  of  the  Theocracy,  especially  to  the  prophets, — 
the  relation,  viz.,  that  was  demanded  by  the  idea  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  Then,  for  the  first  time,  prophecy 
itself,  in  the  oracle  of  Nathan,  announces  as  a  Divine 
r^  decree  the  hereditary  nature  of  the  kingship  ;  the  elec- 
tion of  David  and  his  family  permanently  associates 
the  idea  of  the  theocratic  kingship  in  the  closest  pos- 
sible way  with  the  house  of  David,  and,  as  thus  asso- 
ciated, it  becomes  henceforward  more  and  more  an 
integral  moment  in  the  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  The  last  words  of  David '^  testify  to  the  early  date 
of  the  expectation,  founded  upon  the  promise  of  the 
eternal  covenant  with  the  house  of  David,^  that  right- 

etc,  pp.  265  ff. ).  insists,  of  course,  that  the  opposition  betweeu  the 
Divine  and  the;  human  kingship  orginated  with  the  Judaism  of  the 
Exile,  or  hiter.  i  1  Sam.  13.  14. 

'■'  2  Sam.  23.  1-7,  esp.  ver.  5.  '  2  Sam.  7.  16. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  109 

eons  and  God-fearing  rulers  should  proceed  from  the 
Davidic  stock,  and  that  with  tlieiu  the  light  of  salva- 
tion should  arise  in  full  brilliancy  upon  the  kingdom  -f- 
of  God,  and  a  condition  of  rich  blessing  and  joyous 
prosperity  be  brought  about.  With  the  prophets, 
however,  the  view  that  the  Divine  Kingship  is  in  no 
way  hindered  or  limited,  but  rather  fully  realised, 
through  the  Davidic,  is  absolutely  predominant ;  ^  and 
their  attitude  reveals  the  fruitful  germs  of  fresh  insight 
into  the  saving  purpose  of  God  that  were  implanted 
in  the  consciousness  of  Israel  along  with,  the  idea  of 
the  theocratic  kingship. 

Let  us  examine  more  minutely  what  this  idea 
carried  with  it.  In  doing  so  we  may,  without  scruple, 
adduce  the  utterances  of  the  later  and  the  latest  Old 
Testament  writings,  inasmucli  as  they  are  merely 
developments  from  germs  native  to  the  idea. 

The  thought  underlying  the  process  by  which,  for 
the  consciousness  of  Israel,  the  human  and  the  Divine 
kingship  were  brought  completely  into  line  with  each 
other  was,  that  the  theocratic  king,  as  the  "  anointed ». 
of  Jehovah,"  ^  and  as  the  one  chosen  by  God,^  and  set 
up  in  His  house  and  kingdom,^  is  the  visible  representa-  ^^ 
five  of  the  invisible  God-King.     As  the  vicar  of  God  on 

^  Even  Hosea  forms  in  this  respect  no  exception  (cp.  3.  5) ;  his  con- 
demnation of  the  kingship  of  the  ten  tribes  (8,  4,  10.  3,  13.  10  f. ) 
cannot  be  made  to  refer  to  human  kingship  in  general  {contra  Konig 
in  loc.  cit.  ii.  pp.  340  ff. ). 

2Cp.  e.g.  Ps.  89.  20. 

3  Cp.  in  contrast  with  Hos.  8.  4  :  Deut.  17.  15,  1  Sam.  10.  24,  16. 
8.  10,  2  Sam.  6.  21,  1  Kings  8.  16,  11.  34,  Ps.  78.  70,  etc. 

*  1  Chron.  17.  14. 


110  Messianic  Projjhccy. 

earth,  he  is  the  himiaii  organ  by  means  of  which 
Jehovali   exercises    His  government  over   His  people. 

/  His  kingship  is  not  merely  by  God's  grace,  but  also 
in  God's  stead ;  his  dignity  and  kingly  glory  is  not 
only  something  granted  by  God,  it  is  also  the  earthly 
antitype  of  the  glory  and  majesty  of  God  Himself.^ 
On  the  basis  of  this  conception  of  the  relation  between 
the  earthly  and  the  heavenly  king,  the  two  are  often 
named  together,  and  side  by  side,  in  order  to  give 
complete  expression  to  the  one  idea  of  the  theocratic 
government.'-  Hence,  further,  the  covenant,  which 
the  high  priest  Jehoiada  concludes  between  Jehovah 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  king  and  the  people  on  the 
other, — viz.  that  they  should  be  a  people  of  Jehovah, — 
is  at  the  same  time  a  covenant  between  the  king  and 
the  people.^     Rebellion  against  the  king  is  at  the  same 

J  time  rebellion  against  Jehovah  Himself.^  Later  writers 
go  so  far  as  to  say  that  the  king  "  sits  upon  the  throne 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Jehovah,"  or  even  that  he  sits 
"  upon  the  throne  of  Jehovah."  ^  Hence  it  is  not 
surprising  that  even  in  earlier  times  similar  expres- 
sions were  used  by  jJoets.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  poet 
of  Ps.  45  calls  the  king's  throne  the  throne  of  God 
(ver.  G).*^    Similarly,  according  to  Ps.  110.  1,  God  said< 

1  Cp.  Ps.  21.  r.,  4.-).  3,  with  Ps.  96.  6,  104.  1,  111.  3. 
-  Cp.  <'.g.  Prov.  24.  21,  Hos.  3.  5 ;  also  1  Sam.  12.  3.  5. 
3  2  Kings  11.  17. 

■»  Cp.  Ps.  2.  2  ;  also  Prov.  24.  21  and  Isa.  8.  6. 
^  1  Cliron.  28.  5,  29.  23. 

"  Tiie  renduiing  of  kifdkhd  'Elohim,  "thy  God-throne,"  seems  after 
all  the  simplest  ;  tlieru  is  no  objection  to  it  on  the  score  of  grammar 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  Ill 

to  the  king :  "  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand  till  I  make ' 
thine  enemies  thy  footstool,"  which,  strictly  speaking, 
does  not  imply  so  much  as  the  expressions  previously 
cited;  for,  besides  the  first  rank  and  the  highest  honour 
next  to  God  Himself,^  it  ascribes  to  the  king  pro- 
perly, only  the  highest  degree  of  participation  in  the 
sovereignty  of  God — not,  however,  the  representation 
of  the  invisible  King  Himself.^  By  his  being  appointed 
the  organ  through  whom  the  heavenly  King  conducts 
the  government  of  His  people,  the  foundation  is  laid 
of  an  altogether  peculiar  and  close  relation  of  fellow- 
ship between  God  and  the  king — a  relation  expressed 
in  the  fact  that  Jehovah  is  called  his  father,  and  the 
king  Jehovah's  son.  This  designation  belongs  solely 
to  him,  not  even  to  the  priest  or  the  prophet — or  any 
other  individual  Israelite.  It  is  applied,  besides,  only 
to  Jehovah's  peculiar  people  as  a  whole,  and  to  them 
only  on  the  similar  ground  of  the  election.  As,  there- 
fore, Israel  was  among  the  nations,  so  was  the  theocratic 
king  among  the  Israelites,  in  respect  of  the  altogether 
unique  relation  to  God.  The  God-sonship  of  the  entire 
nation  culminates  in  the  king's  personal  sonship,  just 
as  Israel's  holiness  and  priestly  character  culminate  in 

(cp.  HuPFELD  on  Ps.  45.  6).  It  is  hard  to  see  why  'oldm  iva'edh 
cannot  be  as  good  a  predicate  as  l<^'dlum  iva'edh  (Lam.  5.  19), 
or  as  l^'oldm  (contra  Ewald  and  Hitzig).  In  other  cases  surely, 
according  to  Ewald  himself,  a  substantive  can  stand  as  predicate  in 
place  of  an  adjective  (cp.  Ewald,  §  296h).  There  would,  however,  be 
no  material  difference  even  were  we  to  translate  with  Ewald,  Hitzig, 
and  others,  "  Thy  throne  is  (a  throne)  of  God  for  ever  and  ever." 

1  Cp.  1  Kings  2.  19,  Ps.  45.  9.  12,  1  Mace.  10.  62  f..  Matt.  20.  20  ff. 

*  The  explanation  of  Ewald — favoured  also  by  Diestel  (in  loc.  cit. 
pp.  563  f.)— which  requires  us  to  interpret  the  sitting  at  the  right 


112  Messianic  Prophecy. 

tlie  high  priest ;  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  othei-,  that 
which  in  virtue  of  the  Divine  election  belongs  to  the 
nation  as  a  whole,  is  summarised  and  intensified  in  the 
])erson  of  one  individual,  who  is  the  object  of  special 
Divine  election.    The  immediate  proof  of  God's  fatherly 

.relation  to  the  king  lies  in  the  fact  that  He  shows  him 
special  paternal  love  and  care,  takes  him  under  His 

,  protection  as  a  sanctified  aud  inviolable  person,^  and 
exercises  towards  him  all  the  careful  discipline  of  a 
father;  while  the  king,  as  Jehovah's  son,  relies  con- 
fidently upon  his  God,  and  upon  the  rock  of  his 
salvation ;  yet  is,  at  tlie  same  time,  bound  to  childlike 
obedience.^  If  he  fail  of  such  obedience,^  God  chas- 
tises him,  but  does  not  reject  him  or  his  house.  As  for 
Abraham's  sake  He  never  issues  a  warrant  of  destruc- 
tion against  Israel,  but  always  gives  him  fresh  proof 
of  His  grace ;  so  for  David's  sake  he  never  suffers  His 
grace  to  depart  from  the  king,  nor  his  house  to  perish.* 

hand  of  the  position  of  the  king  in  tlie  victorious  war-chariot,  on 
which  God  and  the  king  go  ont  to  hattle  (cp.  Ps.  44,  9,  2  Sam.  5.  24) 
is  certainly  incorrect.  The  analogous  utterance,  ver.  4,  shows  clearly 
that  the  reference  is  to  wliat  the  king  of  the  theocracy  as  such  is, 
not  to  any  special  Divine  assistance  in  war.  How  little  we  are  at 
liberty  to  take  the  details  of  the  picture  presented  in  the  following 
verses  (which  actually  do  describe  the  king's  going  forth  to  war)  with 
absolute  literal ness— forgetful  of  the  character  of  poetic  discourse — 
appears  at  once  from  ver.  5,  where  the  relations  are  reversed,  and 
.Jehovah  is  at  the  right  hand  of  the  king.  On  the  meaning  of  the 
(I'lh  (until),  however,  cp,  e.fj.  Gen.  28.  15. 

1  Cp.  1  Sam.  24.  7,  11,  26,  9  f,,  2  Sara,  1,  14, 

-'  Cp.  2  Sam,  7,  14,  1  Chron.  22,  10  f.,  28,  6,  Ps,  89,  26  ff. 

3  Cp,  1  Kings  9,  4  f,,  1  Chron.  28.  7. 

■*  2  Sara.  7.  14  f.,  Ps.  89.  28.  Diestkt.,  in  loc.  cit.  p.  559,  refers 
appropriately  to  the  historical  illustration  of  this  idea  in  1  Kings  15. 
4  f.,  2  Kings  8.  19,     It  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  ideas  which  determines 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  113 

— But  just  as  God's  fatherly  relation  to  Israel  implies 
that,  as  his  Creator  and  Maker,  He  has  made  Israel 
what  he  is, — an  independent  people  and  the  people  of 
God,^ — so  there  is  implied  in  the  designation  of  God,_^ 
as  father  of  tlie  theocratic  king,  that  his  kingship 
originates  from  God,  and  rests  upon  a  transference 
to  him  of  God's  own  kingly  power.^ 

As  the  organ  of  Jehovah's  kingly  government  of 
His  people,  the  fii'st  business  of  the  theocratic  king 
is  to  defend  the  kingdom  of  God  against  the  attacks "*" 
of  heathen  peoples,  and  secure  its  prestige  and  power 
beyond  its  own  border,  that  the  people  of  God  may 
dwell  in  peace  and  safety,  and  take  among  the  peoples 
of  the  earth  the  position  that  becomes  them.  He 
delivers  them  from  the  power  of  their  enemies,^  accom- 
plishes the  punishment  ordained  by  Jehovah  against 
nations  who  have  wronged  His  kingdom  and  people,^ 
and,  in  general,  conducts  the  wars  of  Jehovah.^  For 
such  an  exercise  of  the  duties  of  his  calling  he  is  fitted 

tlie  pragmatism  of  history-writing  in  the  Books  of  Kings.  Besides 
the  above  passages,  cp.  1  Kings  11.  12  f.  32.  36.  39,  2  Kings  19.  34, 
20.  6,  and  the  close  of  the  book. 

1  Dent.  32.  6,  Isa.  43.  1.  15,  45.  11. 

"  Cp.  Ps.  2.  7.  From  what  we  have  noted  above  regarding  tlie 
relation  of  the  kingly  dignity  to  that  which  belongs  to  the  whole 
people,  the  reason  of  the  ascription  by  the  "Great  Unknown"  (Isa. 
55.  3  ff.)  of  the  chafdhe  Dhdvidh  hanne'emdnim  (sure  mercies  of 
David),  as  well  as  of  the  priesthood  to  the  people  of  God,  as  a  whole 
becomes  intelligible.  According  to  his  representation  there  is  in 
the  perfect  time  no  longer  either  a  special  priesthood  or  a  special 
kingship.  The  election  of  the  entire  people  is  brought  up  to  the 
level  of  the  election  that  had  hitherto  been  the  privilege  of  priest  and 
king. 

3  1  Sam.  9.  IG,  2  Sam.  3.  18.         *  1  Sam.  15.        ^^  1  Sam.  25.  28. 

II 


114  Messianic  Prophecy. 

by  the  almighty  power  of  God.  Jehovah  girds  him 
witli  power,  endues  him  with  the  warrior's  courage 
and  hardihood,  and  gives  him  success  in  all  his  under- 
takings.^ He  Himself  supports  him  with  the  ready 
help  of  His  right  hand  (Ps.  20.  G) ;  His  hand  is  ever 
witli  him,  and  His  arm  strengthens  him ;  He  "  beats 
down"  his  adversaries  before  him  (Ps.  89.  21  fl'.),  and 
makes  all  his  enemies  his  footstool.  Thus  in  the 
power  of  his  God,  the  king  overcomes  and  subjects 
or  else  annihilates  all  enemies  of  the  kingdom.^ 

In  relation,  similarly,  to  the  internal  conditions  and 
circumstances  of  the  theocracy,  the  king  is  the  executor 
•I"  of  the  royal  will  of  Jehovah ;  his  judicial  activity 
secures  the  maintenance  of  justice,  and  the  authority 
of  the  law  in  the  kingdom  of  God :  he  punishes  every 
rebellion  against  the  will  of  God,  crushes  the  insolence 
of  the  violent,  helps  the  poor  and  the  needy  to  their 
rights,  preserves  thus  order  and  peace,  and  is  to  the 
land  as  refreshing  rain ;  under  his  government  the 
righteous  spring  forth  and  blossom.^  It  is  also  part 
of  his  office  to  see  to  it  that  the  people  keep  faith 
with  their  God,  honour  Him,  serve  Him  ;  it  is  his 
duty  to  put  down  and  punish  all  idolatry,  invocation 
of  the  dead,  worship  at  high  places,  and  the  like,*  and, 
in  general,  to  be  the  principal  overseer,  manager,  and 
leader  in  all  matters  pertaining  to  worship.^     He  has 

iPs.  18.  29-43,  2  Kings  18.  7. 

2Ps.  2.  8f.,  21.  8  fr.,  45.  4f. 

3  Prov.  16.  12-15,  20.  8.  26  ;  cp.  Ps.  72.  1-7.  12-15. 

*  Cp.  1  Sam.  28.  3.  9,  2  Kings  18.  4  ff.,  23.  4  tf. 

0  2  Sam.  6,  2  Kings  12.  5  ff. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  115 

thus  to  labour  to  secure  that  the  will  of  God  should  be 
in  every  particular  recognised  and  accomplished  in  His 
own  kingdom.  And  for  this  side  also  of  his  appointed  ' 
task  he  is  furnished  by  God  with  special  gifts  of  govern-V' 
ment,  as,  e.g.,  Solomon  was  qualified  to  exercise  the  office 
of  judge  through  the  wisdom  granted  to  him.^  It  is 
clear  from  all  this  that,  by  the  exercise  of  his  royal 
functions  in  war  and  in  peace,  abroad  and  at  home, 
the  king  became  the  mediator  through  whom  Jehovah 
imparted  help,  salvation,  and  blessing  to  His  people. 

It  is,  of  course,  to  be  understood  that  the  whole 
content  of  the  idea  of  the  theocratic  kingship,  as  we  ^ 
have  hitherto  developed  it,  rests  on  the  supposition 
that  the  king  himself  is  really  possessed  of  the  *• 
disposition,  imperative  in  a  representative  of  the 
invisible  King,  that  he  honours  God,  to  Whose  iin-- 
deserved  grace  he  owes  all  his  dignity,  in  deep 
humility,^  trusts  Him  implicitly,  and  offers  Him 
joyful  thanks  for  His  help ;  ^  that  he  loves  righteous- 
ness and  hates  unrighteousness,^  being  like  God  Himself 
in  his  intolerance  of  wicked  men  near  to  his  person 
or  among  his  servants,  and  that  he  accepts  in  all 
earnestness  the  trust  to  secure  that  the  ordinances  of 
justice  be  maintained  in  his  kingdom,  and  the  theocracy 
become  in  truth — what  it  is  intended  to  be — a  kingdom 
of  righteousness  and  peace ;  ^  in  short,  that  his  royal 
will  become,  throiLgh  his  loilling  and  complete  obedience 

1  1  Kings  3.  4  ff.  ;  cp,  2  Sam.  14.  17.  20,  19.  27. 

2  Cp.  2  Sam.  6.  21  f.  »  Cp.  e.g.  Ps.  21.  1.  7, 
4  Ps.  45.  4.  6  f.  5  Ps.  101, 


IIG  Messianic  Prophecy. 

y  to  Jehovah,  one  iitith  the  will  of  the  invisible  King.  The 
will  of  God  is  made  known  to  him  partly  from  the 
law/  partly  through  the  prophets,  whose  duty  it  is,  in 
the  event  of  his  disobedience,  to  bring  his  sin  home  to 
him,  and  to  threaten  him  with  God's  judgment.  The 
ideal  theocratic  king,  however,  is  one  who  has  been  so 
changed  in  heart  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  so  fitted 
for  the  service  of  Jehovah,  that  he  is  himself  inwardly 
impelled  to  do  what  God  wills  should  be  done  tlirough 
him.^ 

As   the   theocratic    king    is    the    representative    of 

"^Jehovah,  whose  dominion  extends  over  all  lands  and 
peoples,  and  who  will  one  day  be  known  and  acknow- 
ledged by  all  peoples  as  God  and  King,  it  is  only 
a  necessary  consequence  of  the  position  and  dignity 
assigned  him  by  God,  that  he  should  be  the  first  and 
the  greatest  among  the  kings  of  the  earth,^  and  that 
Ms  dominion  should  he  an  unliinitcd  one;  it  is  ordained 
that  all  kings  pay  him  homage  and  all  peoples  serve 
him,  and  one  day  they  will  actually  do  so ;  he  must 
rule  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the  ends  of 
the  earth,  for  God  is  ready  to  give  him  what  belongs 
by  full  right  to  His  son  ;  and  what  the  Almighty  wills, 
He  also  gloriously  carries  out."* — As,  finally,  the  throne 

1  Cp.  Ps.  18.  2-2  f.,  2  Kin<,'s  11.  12,  Deut.  17.  IS. 

-  Cp.  1  Sam.  10.  6  f.  9,  16.  13.  ^  ps.  S9.  27. 

*  Ps.  2.  8,  72.  8-11,  89.  25  ;  cp.  Ps.  18.  44-46  and  2  Chron.  32.  23. 
DiESTKL  (in  loc.  cit.  pp.  570  fl".)  is  right  in  drawing  attention  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  aright  the  sigiiiticance  which  the 
Israelites  attached  to  the  idea  of  a  world-dominion,  unless  we  realise, 
on  the  one  haml,  their  limited  geograi)hical  horizon,  and,  on  the.  other, 
the  very  loose  relation  of  dependence  in  which,   in  Anterior  Asia, 


The  Origin  of  Mcssicmic  Prophecy.  117 

of  God  endures  for  ever}  so  also  the  throne  of  the  > 
theocratic  king ;  the  Kingdom  of  God,  over  which  he 
is  placed,  is  an  everlasting  Kingdom,  whose  kingship 
is  granted  to  him  for  ever,  because  of  the  election  of 
David,  from  which  Jehovah  cannot  go  back.  This,  ol 
course,  does  not  imply  the  eternal  longevity  of  the 
individual  king, — although  in  poetic  hyperbole  even 
this  is  assigned  him,^  as  in  court-language  it  is  wished 
to  him,^ — but  only  that  the  kingship  is  the  property 
of  his  house,^  and  in  that  sense  the  eternal  possession 
even  of  the  individual — the  same  sense,  viz.,  in  which 
the  priesthood  of  Aaron  and  his  sons  is  an  eternal 
priesthood.^ 

Hitherto  we  have  regarded  the  king  as  the  repre-  ^ 
sentative  of  the  invisible  Divine  King.  But  as  standing 
at  their  head,  the  king  is  also  the  natural  representative  a 
of  the  people.  He  is  so  to  God  as  well  as  to  other 
peoples  and  kings.  And  as  this  people,  in  virtue  of 
their  election,  are  a  people  of  priests,^  so  to  him,  in 
virtue  of  his   special  election,  in  which    that  of  the 

dominion  over  outlying  peoples  usually  consisted. — The  dress  in  which 
the  fancy  of  the  Israelites  necessarily  clothed  it  must  not,  however, 
allow  us  to  forget  the  thoroughly  ideal  character  of  the  conception. 
The  picture,  moreover,  in  which  the  Israelite,  basing  upon  his  limited 
geographical  horizon,  and  following  the  political  ideas  of  his  time, 
might  portray  the  world-dominion  of  the  king  who  reigned  in  God's 
stead,  was  one  after  all  of  very  indefinite  outline — as  indeed,  consider- 
ing the  nature  of  such  ideal  conceptions,  it  behoved  to  be.  The 
Germano-Roman  empire  presents,  at  least  in  its  time  of  bloom,  a 
notorious  analogy  to  the  theocratic  kingdom  of  the  Israelites  :  in  the 
idea  of  both  world-dominion  is  an  integral  moment. 

1  Ps.  45.  6.  2  py,  21.  4.  3  I  Kings  1.  31. 

*  2  Sam.  7.  12-16.  29,  1  Kings  9.  5,  1  Ghron.  28.  4,  Ps.  89.  28  f.  36  f. 

5  Cp.  Ex.  40.  15,  Num.  25.  13.  «  Ex.  19.  6. 


118  Messianic  Prophecy. 

people  culminates,  there  must  be  assigned  the  highest 
degree  of  priestly  dignity.  The  Theocratic  Kingdom 
•  must  be — according  to  its  idea — a  Kingdom  of  Priests. 
History  testifies,  further,  that  the  kings  regarded  them- 
selves as  the  chief  trustees  of  the  priestly  function,  even 
tliougli  in  all  probability  they  did  not  usurp  the  elder 
privilege  of  the  house  of  Aaron  to  exercise  the  priestly 
rights  and  duties  pertaining  to  the  sanctuary,  in  particu- 
lar, the  ritual  of  sacrifice ;  or,  if  they  did  so,  as  according 
to  the  Chronicles  Uzziah  did,^  they  met  with  the  most 
pronounced  opposition.-  In  the  festive  fetching  of  the 
Ark  of  the  Covenant  to  Jerusalem,  David  not  only 
wears  the  priestly  dress,  the  linen  ephod,^  but  he  dis- 
penses to  the  people  the  priestly  blessing,*  and  deems 
himself  warranted  in  transferring  the  high  priestly 
office  to  Zadok  and  Abiathar.  Solomon,  too,  imparts 
to  the  people  the  priestly  blessing,^  ordains  a  religious 
feast,*^  and  deposes  one  high  priest  to  install  another^ 
That,  in  general,  the  king  bore  the  principal  part,  by 
way  of  oversight  and  management,  in  all  the  cere- 
monies of  religion  and  worship,  has  already  been  noted 
above.  Even  Uzziah's  offering  of  the  incense  requires 
us  to  suppose  that  a  special  priestly  dignity  was  actu- 
ally conceded  to  him ;  finally,  because  the  king,  as 
head  of  the  people,  is  their  representative  before  God, 

1  2  Chron.  26.  16  fT. 

^  On  the  pas.sages  which  seem  to  assign  to  tlie  Davidic  kings  the 
management  of  matters  pertaining  to  the  priesthood,  cp.  art. 
"  Priester"  in  the  HandwOrterhnrh  <hs  hililischen  Allerthumfi,  p.  1222, 
edited  by  me. 

2  2  Sam.  6.  14  ;  cp.  1  Sam.  22.  18.  '•2  Sam.  6.  16  ff. 
"  1  Kings  8.  14.  55.              «  Ver.  65.  ^  1  Kings  2.  26  f. 


The  Ori/jin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  119 

they  share  the  punishment  of  his  sin ;  ^  just  as  for  an 
error  of  the  high  priest,  or  of  the  priesthood  in  general, 
the  wrath  of  God  strikes  the  whole  community."^ — 
Hence  it  cannot  surprise  us  that  in  Ps.  110.  4  we 
should  read  of  a  sworn  promise  of  God  to  the  king, 
appointing  him  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  it 
Melchisedeh, — an  utterance  which  we  may  have  all  the 
less  scruple  in  referring  to  the  king  actually  in  office 
in  the  time  of  the  poet,  that  the  addition  "  after  the 
order  of  Melchisedek  "  expressly  forbids  us  to  think  of 
the  special  rights  and  duties  of  the  Aarouic  high  priest, 
particularly  the  mediatorial  function  in  the  offering  of 
sacrifice ;  for  of  Melchisedek  tradition  relates  only 
that  he  Messed  Abraham,  and  received  from  him  the  ^ 
tithes ;  it  does  not  say  that  he  offered  sacrifices  :  it 
ascribes  to  him,  that  is  to  say,  only  those  priestly 
actions  which  by  the  express  testimony  of  history 
both  David  and  Solomon  performed. 

Such  in  its  essential  features  is  the  idea  of  the 
Theocratic  Kingship.  Manifestly  it  includes  such  lofty 
conceptions  and  awakens  such  lofty  expectations,  that 
here  also  historic  reality  necessarily  lagged  far  behind 
the  idea.  In  the  early  days  of  the  kingdom  under  the 
house  of  David,  when  as  yet,  for  the  most  part,  good 
energetic  rulers,  well  disposed  to  the  Theocracy,  sat  on 
the  throne  (David,  Solomon,  Asa,  Jehoshaphat),  general 
contentment  with  the  measure  in  which  the  idea  had 
attained  realisation  was — apart  from  the  disruption  of 

1  Cp.  e.g.  2  Sam.  21.  1  ff.,  24.  1  ft".,  2  Kings  23.  26  f.,  24.  3  f. 

2  Cp.  e.g.  Lev.  10.  6. 


120  Messianic  Prophecy, 

the  ten  tribes — possible.  In  this  time  and  even  later, 
when  kings  of  the  like  character  adorned  the  throne, 
it  was  possible  for  poets  to  refer  the  contents  of  the 
idea  of  tlie  Theocratic  Kingship  to  the  contemporary 
sovereign,  and  thus  always  the  more  fully  to  unfold 
these  contents  themselves  and  implant  them  in  the 
consciousness  of  the  people.  For  it  is  of  the  very 
essence  of  poetry  to  transcend  the  limits  of  empirical 
reality  with  its  imperfections  and  deficiencies,  and  so  to 
regard  and  present  it  as  it  appears  to  the  eye  of  the 
inspired  enthusiast — i.e.  as  penetrated  and  transfigured 
by  the  light  of  the  idea.^ — It  was  natural  also  that,  so 
long  as  the  memory  of  the  magnificent  period  of  the 
reigns  of  David  and  Solomon  remained  fresh,  the  eyes 
of  those  who  found  the  contemporary  kingship  in  con- 
tradiction with  their  cherished  ideal  should  still  turn 
to  the  fair  and  brilliant  days  of  the  'past.  The  farther, 
however,  these  palmy  days  of  the  kingdom  receded  into 
the  distant  past,  the  more  frequently  the  experience 
recurred  of  a  glaring  contradiction  between  reality  and 
ideal,  through  the  x)resence  on  the  throne  of  weak  and 
unrighteous  kings,  who  were  unfaithful  to  the  pure 
Jehovah-religion ;  and  the  more  psalmody  contributed 
to  present  the  idea  of  the  Theocratic  Kingship  in  all  the 
fulness  of  its  wealth  and  glory,-  the  more  proportion- 
ately did  this  idea  inevitably  direct  the  eyes  of  godly 
Israelites  to  the  future — the  more,  i.e.,  did  it  become 
certain  to  them  that  the  true  King  of  the  Theocracy 

^  Hence  the  typico-Messianic  psalms. 

2  Cp.  DiESTKLin  he.  cit.  pp.  548,  578,  587. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Prophecy.  121 

could  not  belong  to  the  present,  with  its  conditions  and  ^ 
circumstances,  at  all,  but  was  to  be  expected  only  in 
the  "  last  days,"  for  then  only  would  the  whole  King- 
dom of  God  attain  completion.  There  grew  thus  from 
the  idea  of  the  Theocratic  Kingship  the  -proiphecy  of  the  k- 
Messianic  king,  who,  owing  to  the  fact  that  this  idea 
was  in  its  earliest  origin  indissolubly  associated  with 
the  kingship  of  the  house  of  David,  was  designated  an 
offspring  from  the  stock  of  David,  and  was  character- 
ised as  the  perfect  human  organ  by  means  of  whom  the 
invisible  King  conducts  the  government  of  His  people. 
All  that  is  great  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  and  Micah  ^ 
regarding  the  future  Messiah  is  only  the  unfolding  of 
the  germs  contained  in  the  idea  of  the  Theocratic  King- 
ship ;  with  these  prophets,  however,  the  germs  have 
already  attained  their  full  development,  except  that  the 
element  of  priestly  dignity  appears  in  its  final  definite- 
ness  only  in  the  later  conceptions  of  the  Messianic 
king.^ 

We  have  thus  shown  that  Messianic  prophecy  is  to 
be  regarded  as  being  in  its  main  features  the  organic 
development  of  germs  which  the  Old  Testament  religion  • 
from  the  first  carried  in  its  bosom.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  individual  Messianic  passages.  They  contain 
no  new  features  which  cannot  be  shown  to  stand  in  * 
some  sort  of  organic  or  genetic  connexion  with  those 
already  existing,  or  which,  consequently,  the  Spirit  of 
God  might  not  have  wrought  in  the  spirit  of  the 
prophet  through  a  normal  psychological  medium.     No- 

1  Jer.  30.  21  ;  cp.  Zecli.  3  and  6. 


122  Messianic  Prophecy. 

where  do  we  find  anything  that  is  not  essentially  con- 
ditioned and  determined  by  an  accompanying  germina- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  faith. 

We  are  certain  that,  in  so  saying,  we  do  not  miss 
the  truth  that  a  prophecy  was  never  produced  by  the 
will  of  man,  but  rather  that  "  holy  men  spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  tlie  Holy  Ghost."  ^  The  objective  reality 
of  a  revelation  is  not  impaired  by  the  fact  that  tlie 
revealing  operations  of  the  Divine  Spirit  proceed 
always  within  the  laws  of  man's  spiritual  life  ;  neither 
is  it  impaired  by  a  candid  acknowledgment  of  the 
conditioning  and  determining  influence  exercised  upon 
a  prophet's  revealed  message  by  the  prior  elements  of 
his  consciousness.  Without  the  continuous  revealing 
and  enlightening  operation  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  the 
development  of  Messianic  prophecy  from  the  Old 
Testament  creed  would  have  been  impossible.  No 
germ  becomes  a  plant  apart  from  the  presence  of  the 
outward  conditions  suitable  to  its  development ;  yet 
for  all  that  the  growth  is  organic — something  proceed- 
ing from  within  outwards.  So  also  prophecy  does  not 
grow  apart  from  the  revealing  activity  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  ;  yet  its  development  also  is  from  within  outwards 
— it  starts,  i.e.,  from  what  is  already  within  the  mind 
of  the  prophet.  And  even  if  prophecy  is,  as  we  affirm, 
but  an  unfolding  of  germs  native  to  the  Old  Testament 
faith,  yet,  just  because  this  unfolding  is  not  accomplished 
simply  by  the  exercise  of  the  prophet's  own  under- 
standing   and    reason,  but    by    the    special    revealing 

2  Pet.  1.  21. 


The  Origin  of  Messianic  Froiiiliccy.  123 

activity  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  proplietic  consciousness 
runs,  in  the  'process,  far  in  advance  of  the  ordinary  ^ 
development — through  the  slow  human  process  of  history 
— of  the  religious  consciousness  of  Israel,  gives  it  line  and 
goal,  and  thus  secures  it  against  the  delays  resulting  from 
the  errors,  stoppages,  and  retrogressions  ivhich  are  the 
invariable  accomiianiments  of  a  course  of  historical 
developnent.  Only  he  who  has  lost  faith  in  the  living 
God  can  suppose  that  what  presents  itself  to  one  point 
of  view  as  the  product  of  ordinary  historical  develop- 
ment cannot  be  the  result  of  a  personal  operation  of 
the  transcendent  God,  Who  continuously  intervenes 
in  that  ordinary  process  with  imperative  and  decisive 
effect.  But  he  who  knows  the  livinrr  God,  reco"nisino- 
always  in  history  the  hand  of  Him  Who  holds  the 
reins  of  Universal  Government,  will  never  fail  similarly 
to  recognise  in  the  development  of  religious  truth  the 
revealing  activity  of  that  God  Whose  light  alone  can 
illumine  our  darkness. 


SECOND    PART. 

THE  IIISTOKICAL  CHARACTER  OF  MESSIANIC  RROrilECY  : 
ITS  ADAPTATION  TO  THE  TIMES. 

11 /TESSIANIC  prophecy  is  an  essential  constituent  of 
-^■^  prophetic  discourse.  For  it  was  the  task  of  the 
prophets  to  aim  steadily  at  the  result  of  Israel's  be- 
coming more  and  more  in  reality  what,  by  the  electing 
grace  of  God,  he  was  ideally  and  by  destination — a 
holy  and  priestly  people,  the  peculiar  possession  of 
Jehovah,  occupying  a  position  of  substantial  communion 
with  his  God.  For  the  fulfilment  of  this  task  it  was 
imperative  that  the  belief  in  the  glorious  goal  of 
Israel's  history,  established  on  the  one  hand  by  the 
unalterable  decree  of  God,  and  contradicted  on  the 
other  Ijy  the  misery  of  the  present,  should  be  ever  and 
anon  freshly  and  victoriously  reaffirmed,  that  the  con- 
sciousness of  their  great  destiny  might  be  kept  alive 
among  tlie  people,  and  developed  with  increasing 
clearness  and  completeness.  Hence  none  of  the  pro- 
phets neglects  to  point  to  the  end  of  the  ways  of  God. 
Even  Amos,  for  instance,  though  he  appears  before  the 
people  chiefly  as  a  preacher  of  vengeance  and  as  the 
herald  of  a  judgment  already  on  the  way,  must,  at  least 
in  the  end,  hold  out  to  the  godly  and  repentant  the 

121 


The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy.   125 

winning  prospect  of  the  salvation  of  the  perfect  time. 
And  so  throughout  we  find  in  all  the  prophetic  writings 
— even  the  most  insignificant — at  least  something  in  "■ 
the  shape  of  a  Messianic  oracle. 

In  its  most  general  and  essential  features,  moreover, 
Messianic  prophecy  is  the  same  at  all  times  and  with 
all  the  prophets.  God's  judgment  upon  His  unfaithful 
people,  with  a  view  to  their  chastisement,  purification, ' 
and  sifting ;  the  conversion  of  the  people — or  at  least  a 
remnant  of  them — to  their  God ;  judgment  upon  the 
heathen  peoples, — into  whose  power  Israel  had  been 
delivered,  and  who  had  insolently  transgressed  the 
limits  of  their  commission  and  sought  the  total  destruc- 
tion of  the  kingdom  of  God  ;  the  redemption  of  the 
people  of  God ;  and,  finally,  the  spiritual  salvation  and 
the  external  blessing  of  the  accomplished  covenant- 
communion  of  Israel  with  his  God,  living  among  His 
people  and  by  His  kingly  government  creating  right- 
eousness and  peace  in  His  Kingdom, — such  are  every- 
where the  main  features  of  the  picture  which  the 
prophets  draw  of  the  historical  course  of  the  Kingdom 
of  God  to  its  goal  of  perfection.  The  details  of  the  i<- 
picture,  however,  vary  very  considerably  with  the  times 
and  with  the  prophets.  At  one  time  the  prominent 
feature  in  the  Messianic  delineation  is  external,  earthly . 
prosperity — the  power  and  prestige  of  the  people  of 
God,  security  against  enemies,  the  wonderful  fruitful- 
ness  of  the  holy  land,  etc.;  at  another,  prominence  is 
given  to  spiritual  salvation — the  forgiveness  of  sins, 
the  ethico-religious  renewal  of  the  people  by  the  out- 


126    The  Historical  Cluirndcr  of  Messianic  Tro^iliccy  : 

pouring  of  tlie  Spirit  of  God,  the  intimate  communion 
of  life  and  love  which  every  individual  will  enjoy  with 
Clod.  In  one  place  the  blessing  is  promised  exclusively 
— to  Israel  alone ;  in  another  the  promise  is  universal 
.  — to  all  peoples.  One  prophet  ascribes  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  salvation  of  the  perfect  time  solely  to 
Jehovah  Himself,  another  connects  tlie  dawn  of  the 
Messianic  time  with  the  appearance  of  the  Messianic 
king,  while  a  third  represents  the  true  people  of  God 
as  the  organ  used  by  Him  to  carry  out  effectually  His 
decree  of  grace.  The  perfected  Kingdom  appears  oiow 
as  one  that  corresponds  with  the  existing  Old  Testa- 
ment economy — it  has  its  central  sanctuary  in  the 
temple  at  Jerusalem,  its  special  priesthood,  its  ritual  of 
sacrifice,  including  even  sacrifices  of  propitiation,  etc.; 

^  noiv  it  is  represented  as  something  very  different  from 
the  old  regime,  for  the  special  theocratic  offices  are 
declared  superfluous,  and  in  consequence  the  old  classi- 
fication of  the  people  and  the  old  form  of  worship  call 
for  renewal. — A  much  larger  element  of  variation  in 
the  form  of  Messianic  prophecy  owes  its  origin,  how- 
ever, to  the  constant  changing  of  the  features  borrowed 

-^  from  contemporary  history.  In  one  place,  for  instance, 
it  is  sufficient  that  Israel  should  be  secured  against 
the  attacks  of  neighbouring  peoples ;  in  another,  the 
oppressive  yoke  of  the  Assyrians  must  be  shattered ; 
in  yet  another,  the  Chaldean  world-empire  must  be 
destroyed,  God's  people  brought  back  from  the  land  of 
captivity  to  the  holy  land,  and  Jerusalem  and  the 
temple  rebuilt,  that  the  promised  era  of  salvation  may 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  127 

begin.  Indeed,  nearly  every  picture  of  the  Messianic 
time  has  its  special  colouring,  borrowed  from  contem- 
porary events. 

This  variety  in  the  shaping  of  Messianic  prophecy 
is  due  in  part  to  the  mental  peculiarities  of  individual 
prophets,  and  to  their  particular  religious  standpoints ; 
in  part  also  it  results  from  the  gradual  character  of 
the  process  by  which  God's  saving  purpose  is  revealed. 
But  by  far  the  most  important  reason  is  to  be  sought 
in  the  qualifying  and  determining  influence  exercised 
upon  the  Messianic  oracles  of  the  individual  prophet 
by  tlie  historical  conditions  and  circumstances  of  the^ 
immediate  and  ever-varying  present. 

The  first  point  needs  no  detailed  explanation.  No 
one  will  deny  that  even  in  the  sphere  of  Messianic 
prophecy  the  differences  of  individual  prophets  in 
character,  gifts,  disposition,  experience,  progressive" 
development,  make  themselves  felt.  These  differences, 
it  will  be  allowed,  affect  such  points  as  the  tone  and 
setting  of  the  discourse,  the  choice  of  pictures,  the 
predominance  of  the  verbal  or  the  visionary  method  of 
revelation,  the  natural  simplicity  or  the  richly-signifi- 
cant play  of  symbolism  that  surprises  the  reader,  the 
plain,  concise  presentation  of  the  vision  or  its  artistic 
and  detailed  description,  the  now  larger  and  the  now 
lesser  width  of  horizon,  and  the  like.  We  have,  how- 
ever, spoken  of  differences  in  religious  standpoint,  and 
on  this  one  point  a  word  of  explanation  may  be  neces- 
sary to  guard  ourselves  against  misapprehension.  We 
do  not,  of  course,  mean  any  difference  that  would  com- 


128    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

promise  unity  of  spirit :  all  the  prophets  start  from 
the  same  fundamental  convictions,  all  have  in  view 
the  same  goal.  We  are  surely  warranted,  however,  in 
asserting  that,  quite  apart  from  this  spiritual  unity 
that  everywhere  attests  itself,  individual  prophets  differ 
^from  one  another  in  the  attitude  they  assume  to  the 
law  and  the  institutions  of  the  Old  Testament  theo- 
cracy. All  of  them,  indeed,  take  up  a  position  that  is 
neither  outside  of  nor  above  the  law,  but  in  its  centre, 
for  they  intrench  themselves  in  its  inmost  essence  ;^ 
but  upon  this  standing-ground  common  to  them  all  a 
difference  was  nevertheless  possible  in  the  value  they 
might  severally  assign  to  what  constitutes  the  circum- 
ference of  the  law ;  the  external  precepts  could  assume 
for  one  a  greater,  for  another  a  less  significance.  Thus 
frequently — especially  in  the  elder  prophecy  —  this 
circumference  or  periphery  of  the  law  remains  totally 
disregarded,  and  the  entire  emphasis  is  laid  upon  its 
ethico-religious  kernel.  In  reading  an  Amos,  Hosea, 
Isaiah,  or  Micah,  one  might  easily  suppose  that  they 
would  not  have  conceded  any  religious  importance  to 
the  ceremonial  of  worship  or  to  any  ritual  precepts 
whatsoever.-  How  wholly  different,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  attitude  of  Ezekiel !     Passages  such  as  Ezek. 

^  We  do  not  use  the  word  "law  "here  as  synonymous  with  "  hiw- 
book "  or  even  with  "Pentateuch;"  at  least  with  the  older  prophets 
the  law  is  still  essentially  a  matter  of  oral  tradition  and  announcement. 

-  That  this,  however,  is  not  the  case  Smexd  has  shown  in  detail  in 
his  dissertation,  J/ows  apud  j^rophctas  (cp.  pp.  37  ft".,  66  IT.),  and  in 
his  treatise,  "  Ueber  die  vou  den  Propheten  des  achten  JaLrhunderts 
vorausgesctzte  Entwickelungsstufe  der  israelitischen  Religion."  in 
Stud.  u.  Krit.  1876,  4  Hft.,  esp.  pp.  656  ft". 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  129 

4.  14,  22.  26  show  the  great  importance  that  the 
regulations  regarding  meats  and  purifications  have  for 
liim.  And  tliat  this  is  not  to  be  accounted  for  by  the 
later  date  of  Ezekiel,  but  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  result 
of  his  peculiar  religious  standpoint,  is  proved  by  a 
glance  at  his  contemporary  Jeremiah,  who  has  in 
common  with  him  only  the  emphatic  insistance  upon 
the  Sabbatic  commandment,^  but  in  other  respects 
shares  the  attitude  of  the  older  prophets  to  the  cere- 
monial precepts.  That  such  a  difference  of  religious 
view  would  necessarily  make  itself  felt  in  the  separate 
utterances  of  Messianic  prophecy,  must  be  already 
apparent  to  any  one  who  followed  our  remarks  on  the 
mode  of  revelation  to  the  prophets  (pp.  54  ff.).  Though 
it  is  true  that  the  eternal  thoughts  of  God,  which 
attain  accomplishment  in  the  New  Covenant,  nowhere 
entirely  free  themselves  from  their  specific  Old  Testa- 
ment investiture,  this  envelopment  will,  nevertheless, 
as  a  matter  of  course,  be  more  observable  in  the 
utterances  of  those  prophets  who  lay  more  stress  thaii 
others  upon  the  Old  Testament  precepts  and  institu- 
tions. And  such  is  actually  the  case,  e.g.,  with  Ezekiel. 
His  contemporary  Jeremiah  may,  in  the  delineation 
of  the  Messianic  time,  make  ineidcntal  reference  to 
temple,  priests,  and  offerings  f  but  his  prophecy  cul- 
minates in  the  assertion  that  the  perfected  Kingdom  of  -i 
God  is  one  in  which  there  shall  be  no  ark,  no  law 
written  upon  tables  of  stone,  no  unapproachable  Holy 

1  Jer.  17.  19  ff'. ;  cp.  Ezek.  20.  12  fi'.,  22.  S. 
-  Jer.  17.  26,  31.  14,  33.  11,  IS.  IS  tf. 
1 


130    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Propliccy  : 

of  Holies,  no  difference  between  priests  and  laity,  be- 
tween prophets  and  people — in  which,  rather,  Jehovah's 
presence  shall  pervade  the  entire  City  of  God,  the  law 
be  written  upon  the  hearts  of  all,  and  all  alike  shall 
know  God,  and  stand  in  the  same  close  relation  to 
Him.^  There  is  nothing,  on  the  other  hand,  so  char- 
acteristic of  Ezekiel's  prophecy  as  the  fact  that  he 
cannot  present  to  himself  even  the  spiritualised  reli- 
gious life  of  God's  people  in  the  perfect  time  apart 
from  its  embodiment  in  the  conventional  forms.  The 
picture  he  draws  of  the  perfected  Kingdom  is  substan- 
tially the  picture  of  the  old  theocracy ;  only,  many  of 
the  arrangements  of  the  latter  undergo  a  perfecting 
transformation,  in  describing  which  Ezekiel  deems  the 
external  arrangements  and  ordinances  of  the  renewed 
theocracy  of  such  importance  that  he  details  even  the 
smallest  particulars  with  the  utmost  minuteness.-  In 
chaps.  40-48  we  read  that  in  the  new  temple  even 
sin-offerings  and  guilt-offerings  are  still  offered,^  and 
that  on  the  first  and  seventh  days  of  the  first  month 
there  is  to  be  performed  an  annually  recurring  atone- 
ment for  the  sanctuary  ;■*  the  line  of  demarcation 
between  priests  and  laity  is  drawn  even  more  straiglitly 
than  in  the  law  ;^  the  legal  definitions  as  to  the  holy, 
and  the  unholy,  the  clean  and  the  unclean,  remain  in 
force,  and  the  people  are,  as  formerly,  instructed  in 
them    by  the  priests  f   circumcision   of  the   heart   is 

»  Jer.  3.  16  f.,  31.  29  fF.  -  Ezek.  cliaps.  40-48. 

•■«  Ezek.  40,  39,  42.  13,  14.  29,  46.  20.  *  Ezck.  45.  18  If. 

*  Ezek.  44.  19.  "  Li.  vor.  23. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  131 

associated  with  circumcision  of  the  flesh/  In  short, 
the  mark  of  the  perfect  time  is  not  the  abolition  of 
the  old  or  a  total  renewal,  it  is  rather  such  a  filling  of 
the  old  forms  with  the  spirit,  without  which  they  are  *' 
dead  and  worthless,  as  that  the  reality  or  substance 
always  accompanies  the  external  sjniibol,  and  that  with 
the  ceremony  there  is  always  associated  the  disposition 
of  spirit  it  is  meant  to  embody.  Ezekiel  occupies  thus 
undeniably,  even  in  his  Messianic  prophesying,  the 
priestly  standpoint  much  more  than  Jeremiah ;  even 
here  the  great  importance  of  the  ceremonial  precepts 
in  his  religious  consciousness  is  manifest.  Similarly,  it 
might  be  shown  from  other  instances  how  the  greater  or 
less  depth  of  religious  life,  and  the  measure  of  ethico- 
religious  perception,  peculiar  to  the  prophets  severally, 
exercise  a  determining  influence  upon  their  Messianic 
utterances.  Compare,  e.g., — to  put  the  factors  of  the 
greatest  contrast  side  by  side, — the  prophecies  of  the 
second  half  of  Isaiah  with  those  of  a  Haggai  or  a  Malachi! 
As  to  the  second  ground  of  variety  in  the  form  of 
Messianic  prophecy,  viz.  the  gradually  progressive 
nature  of  the  revelation  of  God's  saving  purpose  to  the 
prophets,  the  minute  treatment  of  it  belongs  properly 
to  a  history  of  the  development  of  revelation.  Such 
a  history  has  to  show  how  the  true  character  of  the 
perfected  Theocracy,  and  the  ways  and  means  of  its 
accomplishment,  come  to  be  recognised  by  the  prophets 
with  ever-increasing  clearness  and  completeness.  Such 
a  presentation  of  the  historical  development  of  pro- 

1  Ezi'k.  44.  9. 


132   The  Hidorical  Cliaractcr  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

phecy  we  do  not  here  contemplate,'  and  wc  annex  the 
loniarks  it  may  be  suitable  for  us  to  make  in  this 
connexion  to  our  illustration  of  the  tliircl  point,  viz. 
the  qualifying  and  determining  influence  which  the 
historical  conditions  and  circumstances  of  the  immedi- 
ate and  ever-varying  present  exercise  upon  the  content 
of  ]\Iessianic  prophecy.  We  mean  that  the  progressive 
development  of  Messianic  prophecy  stands  in  a  genetic 
and  teleological  connexion  with  the  historical  course 
of  the  Old  Testament  theocracy — a  genetic  connexion 
because  of  the  influence,  just  referred  to,  which  varying 
liistorical  circumstances  exercise  upon  it ;  a  tclcolofjical, 
liccause  history,  like  prophecy,  is  designed  to  be  a 
l)reparation  and  education  of  Israel  for  the  fulfilment 
of  his  calling,  and  for  the  reception  of  the  Messianic 
salvation  ;  hence  history  and  prophecy  must,  if  they 
are  to  coijperate  towards  the  attainment  of  their  com- 
mon goal,  in  their  course  of  development  run  parallel 
and  keep  step  with  each  other.  The  proof  of  the  influ- 
ence exercised  upon  Messianic  prophecy  by  changing 
historical  circumstances  will  thus  of  necessity  contain 
many  indicative  allusions  to  the  gradually  progressive 
character  of  the  knowledge  of  God's  saving  purpose. 
Accordingly  we  take  for  tlie  subject  of  our  investiga- 
tion in  this  Second  Part,  Tlic  Hislorical  Character  of 
Messianic  Prophecy :  its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.'      In 

'  An  attempt  in  this  direction,  in  many  respects  sncccssful,  is  to  l)c 
found  in  the  second  principal  part  of  the  work  of  vox  Okelli  cited 
above  ;  cp.,  nevertheless,  Stud.  u.  Krit.  18S3,  i>p.  812  If. 

*  [The  German  is  sinn)ly  Der  zeiti/e.schkhtliche  Charaktcr  da-  men- 
sianischcii    Wtinsa'jiuKj.     Our  hhtorkcd  can  liardly  he  .iccepted  as  a 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  133 

treating  this  subject  we  shall  first  bring  into  focus  the 
features,  lying  to  our  hand,  in  the  delineation  of  the 
Messianic  era  that  are  obviously  borrowed  from  the 
times,  and  then  endeavour  to  exhibit  the  deeper-lying 
genetic  connexion  between  the  history  and  the  prophecy.^ 

I.  In  regard  then  to  this  times-colouring,  which  at 
once  strikes  the  student  as  characterising  all  Messianic 
prophecy,  we  have  nothing  substantially  new  to  add 
to  what  has  been  already  elaborated  by  Bertheatj,^ 
and  it  is  only  because  nothing  is  so  essential  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  true  historical  character  of  prophecy 
as  a  proper  estimate,  such  as  is  as  yet  by  no  means 
common,  of  the  concrete  features  which  it  owes  to 
contemporary  history,  that  we  do  not  feel  at  liberty  to 
rid  ourselves  of  the  obligation  to  offer  some  explanation 
of  this  subject. 

The  prophet  is  first  and  foremost  the  trustee  of  a 

Divine  commission  to  his  contemporaries.     To  them  his 

entire  message  is,  in  the  first  instance,  directed,  and 

that  not  with  the  view  of  satisfying  any  idle  curiosity 

that  would  seek  gratification  in  the  lifting  of  the  veil 

that  conceals  the  future ;  for,  on  the  contrary,  prophecy 

is  subservient  to  the  ethico-religious  task  prescribed  to 

the  prophet  by  the  actual  conditions  and  circumstances 

of  his   time.      Hence,  even  when   he  foretells  future 

sufficient  equivalent  for  zeitgeschichtlich,  though  it  is  the  only  single 
word  available. — Tri.] 

^  Cp.  Bertheau,  "Die  alttestamcntliche  Weissagiiug  von  Israels 
Reichsherrlichkeit  in  seinem  Land,"  2nd  and  3rd  parts,  in  the  Jahr- 
hilcherii  fur  deutsche  Theologie,  vol.  iv.  pp.  595  ff.,  and  vol.  v.  pp. 
486  ff. 


134   The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophccj/ : 

events,  the  prophet  keeps  always  in  view  the  conditions 
and  circumstances  of  the  actual  present.     From  them 
lie  starts,  and  in  relation  to  them  his  propliecy  has  a 
delinite  aim.      These  propositions  are  not  contradicted 
by  the  fact  tliat  it  is   frequently  represented  as  the 
purpose   of   a  prophetic  utterance,  particularly  of  its 
committal    to    writing,    that    it    should    be    acknow- 
ledged  at  tlie   time  of  fulfilment :  that  Jehovah  had 
long  foreseen   the  particular  events  in  question,  and 
that  they  are  the  carrying  out  of  a  decree  passed  by 
Him  long  before.      It  is  notorious  that  we  frequently 
meet  with  expressions  to   this    effect  in  Isa.  40-GG, 
as  well  as  in  scattered  references  elsewhere.^     It  goes 
without    saying    that    a    prophecy    whicli    announces 
future   events    is   also    intended    for   the    future,   and 
similarly,   that   a   prophet    may   be   impelled   by   the 
obtuseness  of  his  contemporaries  to  write  out  expressh', 
for  the  benefit  of  a  more  receptive  posterity,  the  word 
of  God  that  can  tind  no  entrance  into  present  ears. 
]>ut  this  does  not  exclude  the  fact  that  the  prophecy 
always  stands  primarily  in  a  definite  teleological  rela- 
tion to  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of  the  present, 
and  is  primarily  intended  for  the  contemporaries  of 
the  prophet.      Never  did  a  prophet  prophesy  without 
intending  first  of  all  to  exercise  a  determining  influ- 
ence upon  their  inner  life  and  conduct. — What  is  true 
of  prophecy  in  general  is  also  true  of  Messianic  pro- 
phecy in  particular.     It  also  is  intended,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  serve  a  purpose  of  comfort  and  warning 

J  C'l).  c.ij.  Isa.  8.  1  ir.,  30.  8  IF.,  34.  10,  Hub.  '2.  2  f. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  185 

to  tlie  contemporaries  of  the  prophet  in  their  actual 
circumstances.  It  is  designed  to  awaken  and  to 
strengthen  in  the  hearts  of  the  responsive  the  faith 
that,  in  spite  of  all  the  obstacles  thrown  in  its  way  by 
the  unfaithfulness  and  hard-heartedness  of  the  people, 
the  judgments  thus  entailed,  and  the  power  of  enemies 
outside,  God's  purpose  of  grace  regarding  Israel  will  yet 
attain  accomplishment ;  yea  even,  that  present  history 
and  immediately  impending  future  events,  little  as 
human  eyes  and  thoughts  may  be  able  to  perceive  it, 
are  part  of  the  way  on  which  a  faithful  covenant-God 
conducts  the  people  of  His  possession  to  their  pre- 
destined goal.  In  order  to  accomplish  this  its  primary 
object,  it  rvas  necessary  for  Messianic  prophecy  to  place 
itself  invariably  in  intimate  relationship  with  the  precise 
cthico-religious  condition  and  outward  position  of  Israel 
at  the  time,  as  well  as  with  the  immediately  impending 
catastrophes  of  Judgment.  As  often  then  as  the  circum- 
stances of  the  time  were  substantially  altered,  the  fact 
that  Messianic  prophecy  was  directed  to  the  new  state 
of  affairs  involved  of  necessity  that  even  its  general 
features  should  be  differently  outlined.  Hence  a  later 
prophet  never  repeats  the  known  Messianic  utterances 
of  his  predecessor  precisely  in  the  same  form  in  which 
he  receives  them,  nor  is  he  content  merely  to  develop 
their  meaning  more  fully,  or  to  define  it  more  accu- 
rately. On  the  contrary,  while  holding  firmly  the 
same  fundamental  thoughts,  he  feels  himself  at  liberty, 
in  view  of  the  historical  circumstances  of  his  own  time, 
and  of  the  practical  problem  which  they  prescribe  to 


13G    The  Hidorical  Cliaractcr  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

him,  to  sketch  a  new  picture  of  the  ])erfect  time, 
adopting  only  tliose  individual  features  of  tlie  former 
picture  which  retain  their  original  significance  in  spite 
of  altered  circumstances.  Thus  Messianic  prophecy 
remains  ever  fresh  and  living,  it  ever  and  again  renews 
its  youth,  and  amid  all  changes  of  historical  circum- 
stance becomes  a  source  of  comfort  to  believing  men 
in  the  sufferings  and  dangers  to  which  they  are  actually 
exposed  at  the  moment,  strengthens  them  against  the 
doubts  presently  assailing  their  faith  and  liope,  and  per- 
suades to  repentance  all  who  are  not  wholly  insuscep- 
tible, by  just  those  prospects  of  salvation  which  are  best 
calculated,  in  their  circumstances,  to  win  their  hearts. 

What  results  thus  from  the  destination  of  Messianic 
prophecy,  results  equally  from  its  psychologically 
mediated  origin.  When  a  prophet  brings  the  Mes- 
sianic salvation  into  close  connexion  with  the  condi- 
tions and  circumstances  of  his  time,  he  is  not  following 
his  own  free  choice,  made  with  a  view  to  the  practical 
problem  of  the  hour ;  rather,  he  is  following  an  inward 
"^  necessity.  He  cannot  do  otherwise  ;  for  his  prophecy 
has  been  put  into  his  heart  and  mouth  by  God,  only 
as  it  has  been  organically  developed,  on  the  one  hand, 
from  his  previous  knowledge  of  God's  will  and  pur- 
pose ;  and,  on  the  other,  from  his  knowledge  of  the 
historical  circumstances  of  the  present,  from  the  per- 
ceptions and  experiences  he  has  made  among  his  fellow- 
countrymen,  and  from  his  information  regarding  the 
world-historical  events  and  political  circumstances  of 
his  time  (cp.  pp.  54  ff). 


Its  Adcq')tntion  to  the  Times.  137 

To  make  this  position  at  once  clearer  and  more 
secure,  we  must  form  a  distinct  idea  of  the  limits  which 
hounded  the  outlooh  of  the  prophets  toivards  the  future. 
No  one,  it  may  be  presumed,  will  deny  the  general 
fact  that  there  are  such  limits.  But  of  what  sort 
they  are  is  a  matter  of  debate,  and  will  remain  so,  so 
long  as  the  traditional  and  the  historico  -  critical  views 
regarding  the  dates  of  certain  prophecies  are  in  opposi- 
tion to  each  other.  The  controversy,  however,  affects 
only  a  comparatively  small  portion  of  the  prophetic 
writings.  We  possess  a  considerable  number  of  the 
prophecies  of  Isaiah  whose  genuineness  is  universally 
admitted.  The  same  is  true  of  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  Boole  of  Jeremiah  and  of  the  whole  of  Ezehiel  u 
it  is  true  also  of  the  writings  of  the  prophets  Hosea, 
Amos,  Micah,  Nahum,  Habbakuk,  Zephaniah,  Haggai, 
Malachi,  and  of  the  first  eight  chapters  of  Zechariah. 
Disputes  as  to  the  precise  dates  of  individual  prophecies 
in  these  writings,  or  as  to  whether  certain  passages 
here  and  there  are  or  are  not  later  additions  to  the 
writings  whose  name  they  bear,  have  no  importance 
for  our  present  problem.  Will  any  one,  then,  maintain 
that  this  undisputed  territory  is  not  sufficiently  com- 
prehensive to  yield  us  a  well-grounded  knowledge  of 
the  historical  character  of  prophecy,  and  of  the  canons 
and  law^s  to  which  the  Divine  method  of  revelation  to 
the  prophets  has  voluntarily  submitted  itself?  Or  is  it 
on  any  pretext  to  be  held  legitimate,  after  such  a  know- 
ledge has  been  actually  acquired,  to  proceed  to  recognise 
exceptions  to  the  rule  that  are  wholly  without  pre- 


138    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Propliecy  : 

cedent,  in  order  to  justify  the  ascription  of  Isa.  40-G6 
to  Isaiah,  or  of  the  Apocalypse  of  Daniel  to  a  prophet 
living  in  the  Exile  ?  ^  The  possibility  of  such  excep- 
tions might  perhaps  be  conceded,  were  it  not  that  in 
relation  precisely  to  those  prophecies,  on  whose  behalf 
the  concession  is  claimed,  (critical  reasons  of  a  ■wholly 
different  hind  have  invariably  to  be  thrown  into  the 
scale  of  evidence, — reasons  which  are  opposed  to  the 
traditional  view  of  the  date  of  their  authorship,  and 
which  assign  them  to  a  date  whose  acceptance  at  once 
brings  them  completely  into  line  with  other  prophecies 
by  showing  them  to  bear  the  same  historical  character, 
and  to  be  subject  to  the  same  laws.  Such  a  coinci- 
dence of  proofs  warns  us  against  the  concession  of 
exceptions,  and  justifies  us  in  assuming  the  universal 
validity  of  these  limitations  of  the  vision  of  the  future, 
and  of  those  canons  and  laws  of  the  Divine  mode  of 
revelation  to  the  prophets  which  the  study  of  the 
proportionately  great  number  of  admittedly  genuine 
})rophecies  has  taught  us." 

*  Cp.  c.<i.  Demtzsch's  closing  remarks  on  Part  iii.  of  Dkixhslku's 
Kommentar  zu  Jcnaian,  p.  391  :  "  But  such  a  coinplote  iiatuialisatiou 
in  the  distant  future,  sustained  throughout  twenty-seven  discourses, 
as  we  should  have  to  assume  in  the  case  of  chaps.  40-66,  is  surely,  in  the 
complete  absence  of  a  precedent,  surprising."    Cp.  in  addition,  p.  389. 

2  It  was  gratifying  to  me  to  find  even  KiiNio  in  complete  agree- 
ment with  me  on  this  point,  as  in  general  in  the  recognition  of 
the  limits  to  the  prophets'  vision  of  the  future  ;  cp.  in  loc.  cil.  ii.  pp. 
307  fT.  In  accordance  with  his  fundamental  view  of  prophecy  he  natur- 
ally proceeds  to  find  the  reason  of  these  limits  retaining  their  validity, 
even  in  the  case  of  those  utterances  expressly  designated  as  the  speech 
<if  Jehovah,  in  the  will  of  God  to  accommodate  Himself  to  tlie  histo- 
rical horizon  of  the  prophets  and  their  hearers. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  139 

What  are  these  limits  and  laws  ?  In  the  content 
of  the  prophetic  vision  of  the  future  we  have  to 
distinguish  tvjo  different  elements.  The  one  is  of  a 
more  ideal  and_general  nature,  the  other  is  more  concrete 
and  historical.  The  germs  from  which  the  prophetic 
cognitions  that  go  to  make  up  the  former  have  grown, 
are  partly  the  fundamental  ideas  of  the  Old  Testament 
religion  present  to  the  prophetic  consciousness,  partly 
also  the  preception  of  certain  general  circunistances 
that  remain  the  same  in  all  times.  Those  prophetic 
cognitions,  on  the  other  hand,  which  constitute  the 
other  element  in  the  prophetic  vision  of  the  future, 
root  besides  in  the  acquaintance  of  the  prophet  with 
the  special  historical  conditions  and  circumstances  of 
the  actual  present. 

From  the  law  of  Jehovah  received  by  tradition,  and 
from  revelations  to  previous  prophets,  every  prophet 
knows  the  unalterable  purpose  of  Jehovah  to  preserve 
His  Kingdom,  founded  upon  earth,  by  the  exhibition 
of  His  judicial  punitive  justice  upon  God- forsaken 
evil-doers,  of  His  grace  and  faithfulness  towards  the 
godly  or  repentant,  and  of  His  almighty  power  and 
holy  majesty  against  heathen  peoples,  who  seek  to 
frustrate  His  gracious  designs,  and  to  conduct  it  to  its 
goal  of  perfection  by  acts  of  judgment  and  grace, 
which  bring  salvation  to  Israel  and  blessing  to  all 
peoples.  Hence :  every  proj^het's  vision  of  the  future 
reaches  to  the  end  of  the  ways  of  God.  The  ultimate 
goal  of  the  history  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  not  indeed 
present  to  the  vision  of  them  all  with  the  same  clcaniess 


140    The  Ilidoriccd  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

\  and  completeness.  In  the  delineation  of  it  there  emerge 
significant  differences  in  the  degree  of  religious  per- 
ception. But  the  proqKct  itself  of  the  complete 
accomplishment  of  Jehovah's  purpose  of  grace  is  not 
absent  from  any  of  the  prophets.  The  prophecy  of 
this  goal  of  perfection  develops  itself  in  a  special 
degree  from  those  ideas  explained  in  the  First  Part 
which  are  implied  in  the  very  fact  of  the  Old  Testament 
religion  and  theocracy.  Of  substantially  similar 
nature  is  the  announcement,  to  be  found  in  many  of 
the  prophets,  of  a  final  conflict  between  universal 
iieathendom  and  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which  will 
immediately  precede  the  last  time,  and  will  end  in  the 
complete  and  for  ever  decisive  victory  of  the  latter, 
and  with  a  judgment  upon  assailants  of  the  Kiugdom, 
such  as  will  annihilate  the  power  of  the  heathen.  We 
11  nd  such  announcements — developed  under  various 
forms — first  in  Joel  3.  'J  ff.,  then  in  Micah  4.  11-13 
and  5.  4  f.,  further  in  Zecli.  12.  1  ff.,  and  14.  3  ff.  12  ff, 
in  greatest  detail  in  Ezek.  chaps.  38  and  39,  finally 
also  in  Deutero-Isaiah  6G.  18  ff".  Even  these  prophecies 
— if  we  excei)t  minute  details — owe  no  special  debt  to 
I  the  circumstances  of  the  times  in  which  they  were 
'  uttered ;  apart  from  the  idea  of  the  Theocracy  itself, 
their  native  soil  is  simply  the  conception  of  the  relation 
of  hostility — the  same  for  all  ages — between  corporate 
heathendom  and  the  Kingdom  of  CJod,  and  the  historical 
experience  that,  just  because  of  this  hostile  attitude 
which  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Kingdom    of   God  on  the   other,  owe  it  to  their 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  141 

essential  mutual  differences  to  assume  to  each  other, 
the  course  of  the  Theocracy  lies  through  hard  conflicts 
to  ultimate  victory  and  peace. 

As  to  the  other — or  concrete  historical — element  in 
the  prophecies  relating  to  the  future,  it  has  been 
rightly  observed :  "  Prophecy  does  not  derive  its 
knowledge  of  the  future  from  the  content  of  the 
historical  present,  but  from  the  counsel  of  God,  who 
overrules  history,  making  even  apparently  opposing 
facts  subservient  to  His  ends."  ^  But  how  is  this 
derivation  from  the  counsel  of  God  effected  ?  Only 
through  the  Spirit  of  God  assuring  the  prophet  that 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  Divine  universal  govern- 
ment future  history  must  and  will  shape  itself  out  of 
the  conditions  and  cireumstances  of  the  present  as  known 
to  him,  in  order  that  the  counsel  of  God,  which  in  its 
fundamental  features  is  also  known  to  him,  may  attain 
fulfilment.  -  Hence,  as  we  see  invariably,  prophecy 
applies  to  the  present  and  to  the  immediate  future  the 
same  fundamental  laws  of  God's  government  of  the 
world  and  His  own  Kingdom,  under  whose  light 
prophetip  historical  narrative  views  the  past ;  here  as 
there,  there  is  the  same  prophetico-theocratic  pragmatism 
governing,  in  the  one  case,  the  representation  of  wliat 
has  happened,  and,  in  the  other,  the  consideration  of 
the  actual  present  and  what  is  to  result  from  it.  It  is 
only  in    regard   to    the   prospect   of    those    historical 

1  Cp.  Oehlek,  art.  "  Weissaguiig "  in  Herzog's  BrnhncyUopcidie, 
xvii.  p.  652. 

'^  Cp.  EwALD,  Dk  Lehre  der  Blbd  von  Gott,  iii.  pp.  -204  ff.  and 
i.  pp.  88  ff. 


142    Tlic  Hidoricrd  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

particulars,  which  stand  in  some  sort  of  immediate 
connexion  with  the  circumstances  of  the  present,  that 
the  Spirit  of  CJod  can  assure  the  prophet ;  He  cannot 
certify  him  of  those  which  have  no  such  connexion, 
for  the  entire  consciousness  of  the  prophet  offers  not  a 
single  point  at  which  such  unrelated  knowledge  could 
originate.  This  limitation  results  from  the  law  of  a 
revelation  which  refuses  to  be  magical — a  law  which 
the  Divine  Eevealer  has  imposed  upon  Himself,  not 
one  by  which  we  seek  to  bind  Him.  In  virtue  of  this 
ilaw,  everij  jjrophet  has  a  definite  historical  horizon  which 

{ limits  his  view  of  the  future.  The  limit  may  be  a 
narrower  or  a  wider  one ;  'but  it  never  reaches  further 
than  the  point  to  lohich  the  present — vietced  in  the  light 
of  the  Divine  purpose — carries  the  future  in  its  hosom. — 
Within  this  times -horizon,  the  certainty  which  the 
prophet  owes  to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  regard  to  what 
is  contained  in  the  counsel  of  God  may  be  a  perfectly 

i  clear  and  drfinite  foreknowledge  of  individual  historical 
facts,  which  prophecy  announces  quite  definitely  and 
unconditionally.  Thus,  e.g.,  Micaiah,  son  of  Imlah, 
prophesies  with  perfect  definiteness  that  Ahab  and 
Jehoshaphat  will  be  defeated  by  the  Aramaeans,  volun- 
tarily submitting  to  imprisonment  and  oJBfering  to  be 
treated  as  a  false  prophet  should  his  word  not  be 
fulfilled.^  Amos  announces  similarly  the  impending 
destruction  of  the  kingdom  of  Damascus,  and  the 
carrying  away  of  the  Aramaeans  to  their  original  seat 
in  Kir.2     Isaiah  is  perfectly  certain  that  kings  Eezin 

'  1  Kings  22.  17  if.  -  Amos  1.  3  ff.  ;  cp.  2  Kings  16.  9. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  143 

and  Pekah  will  not  succeed  in  capturing  Jerusalem,  and 
that  in  less  than  three  years  their  countries  will  be 
devastated  by  the  Assyrian  armies/  but  that  Judali 
also  will  be  hard  pressed  by  the  Assyrians,  from  whom 
Ahaz  expects  his  help.-  Similarly  he  announces  the 
deliverance  of  Jerusalem  from  the  army  of  Sennacherib, 
the  annihilation  of  the  latter  by  the  immediate  inter- 
vention of  Jehovah,  and  the  hasty  flight  of  Sennacherib 
into  his  own  land.^  Jeremiah,  on  the  other  hand, 
announces  that  God  has  irrevocably  decreed  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem  and  the  downfall  of  the  Jewish  State 
through  "  His  servant "  Nebuchadnezzar ;  in  the  same 
manner  he  prophesies,  however,  also  the  judgment  that 

Usa.  7.  7.  16,  8.  4. 

^  Isa.  7. 18  ff.,  8.  5  tf.  The  comparison  of  the  two  last-cited  passages 
affords  an  instructive  proof  of  how  the  prophets,  with  the  view  of  impart- 
ing an  air  of  life  and  forceful  reality  to  their  threats  and  promises,  as  well 
as  of  making  them  jnore  tangible  for  the  people,  frequently  dej^ict  the; 
details  of  an  impending  judgment  or  deliverance  of  Jehovah  without 
themselves  attachitir/  any  particular  importance  to  the  indimduaY 
features  of  their  delineation,  or  intendimj  to  viake  the  truth  of  their 
prophecies  depend  upon  their  actual  occurrence.  Hence  they  do  not 
hesitate  in  the  reproduction  of  a  proj)hecy  to  alter  this  or  that 
individual  feature  of  the  picture.  Thus  in  Isa.  7.  18  tf. ,  the  i)rophit 
represents  the  devastation  of  Judaea  as  brought  about  by  the  mutual 
encounter  of  an  Assyrian  and  an  Egyptian  army — a  view  of  things 
which  undoubtedly  j)resupposes  that  the  latter  will  march  to  Judaea, 
in  order  to  set  bounds  to  the  advance  of  Assyrian  dominion  ;  in  the 
reproduction,  however,  of  the  prophecy,  8.  5  If.,  about  a  year  and  a 
half  later,  he  mentions  only  the  Assyrians  as  the  instrument  of  the 
Divine  judgment. 

3  Cp.  esp.  Isa.  10.  33  f.,  14.  24  ff.,  29.  7  f.,  30.  27  ff.,  31.  5.  8  f.,  37. 
33  ff.  The  two  passages  Isa.  30.  33  and  31.  8  f.  form  another  /ocm.s  in 
l)roof  of  our  remark  in  the  note  above.  In  the  former  the  prophet 
assumes  that  Sennacherib  himself  will  fall  with  liis  army  ;  in  the 
reproduction  of  the  prophecy  he  says  only  that  the  king  will  fall  back 
in  terror-stricken  flight  (cp.  also  37.  34). 


144    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Frojjheei/  : 

will  overtake  Babylon  about  seventy  years  later,  and 
the  consequent  deliverance  and  return  of  the  exiles ; 
and  the  same  prophet  warns  the  false  prophet 
Hananiah,  that  ho  will  die  that  very  year.^  The 
fulfilment  or  non-fulfilment  of  such  definite  prophecies 
— be  they  prophecies  of  salvation  or  of  disaster — is  the 
authorised  criterion  of  the  genuine  or  the  false  prophet.- 
AU  historical  facts,  preannounced  in  tlitise  and  similar 
prophecies,  lie  within  the  ti mes-hovizon  of  the  par- 
ticular prophet ;  and  the  foreknowledge  of  them  is  to 
be  judged  of  psychologically  according  to  the  remarks 
made  at  pp.  49  it — Of  the  further  course  of  future 
history,  on  the  other  hand,  which  stands  in  no  immediate 
relation  to  the  present,  so  far  as  the  latter  is  known  to 
the  prophet,  prophecy  derives  no  knowledge  from  the 
counsel  of  God.  Fresh  periods  of  development  in  the 
history  of  the  Theocracy,  starting  under  totally  difi'erent 
conditions  and  circumstances,  as  well  as  also  the  indi- 
vidual events  that  belong  to  them,  are  veiled  even  to  the 
prophet  in  the  mystery  of  the  Divine  counsel.  Hence 
it  is  always  but  the  next  piece  of  the  historical  road  along 
which  God  will  lead  His  people — that,  viz.,  which  lies 
between  the  present  aud  the  next  epoch,  which  makes 

1  Jer.  28.  16. 

-  Deut.  18.  22,  Jer.  28.  8  f.  Cp.  H.  Schultz  in  lor.  clt.  ii.  pp.  57  f. ; 
in  the  2ncl  ed.  pp.  242  f.  Uerthkau  {Jalirhh.  f.  D.  Th.  iv,  p.  352) 
wrongly  limits  Deut.  18.  22,  which  manifestly  refers  to  all  definite 
l)ro)iliecies  of  the  near  future,  to  prophecies  of  nalvation.  The  fact  that 
false  pro]ihccies  were  for  the  most  part  projihecies  of  salvation,  does  not 
.justify  this  arbitrary  limitation  of  the  natural  meaning  of  the  te.xt,  and 
]);ussages  like  1  Kings  22.  8,  Micah  3.  5,  and  Ezek.  13.  22,  show  that 
tlie  law  must  have  been  applicahlc  to  fiilso  j)ruphecics  of  disaster  as  well. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times,  145 

a  turning-point  in  the  history  of  the  Theocracy — that 
the  enlightened  eye  of  the  prophet  can  survey  with 
more  or  less  distinctness. 

This  piece  of  road,  however,  he  recognises  as  con- 
ducting to  the  goal  which  God's  decree  of  grace  has 
set  for  itself;  for  those  ideal  cognitions  of  future 
history  already  referred  to  may  be  compared,  as 
regards  their  relation  to  that  portion  of  the  concrete 
historical  progress  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  which  is 
actually  within  the  prophet's  view,  to  the  sky  which 
bounds  the  portion  of  country,  the  view  of  which  is 
commanded  by  some  lofty  watch-tower.  The  goal  of 
perfection  lies,  indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  open  to  the 
vision  of  every  prophet  who  looks  into  the  future. 
There  lie  beyond  his  horizon  only  those  stages  in  the 
historical  development  of  the  Kingdom  which  may  inter- 
vene before  the  course  towards  the  goal  of  perfection, 
conceived  as  starting  from  the  point  which  bounds  the 
prophet's  prospect,  is  completed.  Here,  therefore,  we 
mark  the  first  limit  of  the  prophetic  prospect.  We  are 
fully  persuaded  that  every  exegete  who  is  accustomed 
to  interpret  prophecy,  not  according  to  its  actual  or 
supposed  fulfilment,  but  first  and  foremost  according 
to  the  sense  which  the  prophet  himself  attached  to  his 
words,  will  obtain  from  an  examination  of  the  admit- 
tedly genuine  prophecies  precisely  the  result  we  have 
just  indicated.  What  might  be  inferred  a  priori  proves 
itself  thus  in  entire  accordance  with  the  actual  facts.^ 

1  That  even  the  prophecy  Micah  4.  10  is  not  entitled  to  the  claim 
that  has  been  made  for  it,  as  supplying  the  most  decisive  argument 

K 


146    Tlic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

Ou   the  second   limit  to  the  prophet's  view  of  the 

i'uture   we   may    be   brief.     It  is   generally  admitted. 

It   lies   in    the    fact   that  the    time   and  hour  of  the 

against  our  view  (Hi;xgstenbehg,  Christoloijie,  2ml  eel.  i.  p.  541), 
can  easily  be  i)roved,  and  has  been  in  the  main  acknowledged  even 
by  Casi'aiii  in  his,  in  many  respects,  excellent  work,  Uther  Micha 
den  Alorasthiten,  Christiania  1851,  pp.  172  if.  For  Micah  does  not 
refer  to  the  captivity  of  the  Jews  by  the  Chaldeaiix,  wliich  happened 
about  130  years  after  the  date  of  his  prophecy,  but  to  a  deporta- 
tion of  them  to  Babylon  by  the  Assyrians.  This  is  proved,.^rA-<,  by 
the  general  fact  that  he  nowhere  speaks  of  tlie  Clialdcans,  but 
alwa3-s  ratlier  regards  the  Assyrians  as  the  instrument  of  the  divine 
judgment.  Even  in  the  Messianic  time  Assyria  is  the  world-power 
which  has  to  be  overtlirown  (Micah  5.  4  f. ).  Secondly,  the  first  half  of 
4.  10  corresponds  manifestly,  as  regards  date,  with  3.  12.  And  in 
.Ter.  26.  18  f.  it  is  expressly  said  that  this  threat  was  7iot  fulfilled, 
because  Jehovah  repented  of  the  evil  He  had  designed  in  view  of  the 
conversion  of  Hezekiah  and  the  j^eople.  We  are  therefore  by  no 
means  warranted  in  recognising  in  the  captivity  by  the  Chaldeans, 
a  fulfilment  of  this  threat  in  its  concrete  historical  inttrpretntion,  but 
must,  according  to  Jcr.  26,  refer  Micah 's  prophecy  to  a  judgment 
wliicli  was  averted  in  the  time  of  Hezekiah, — a  judgment  of  which 
the  agents  could  liave  been  only  the  Assyrians.  Hengstenbeug's 
objections  to  this  interpretation  are  simply  unscriptural  (in  loc.  cit. 
]).  540). — Micah  could  well,  moreover,  prophesy  a  captive  transporta- 
tion to  Babylon  by  the  Assyrians.  For  Babylon  belonged  at  this 
time  (the  time  of  Hezekiah)  to  the  Assyrians.  As  early  as  the  first 
year  of  his  reign  (745)  Tiglatli-Peleser  had  overthrown  Babylon,  bearing 
in  consequence  the  title:  "King  of  Sumir  and  Akkad,"  i.e.  of 
BaViylonia,  and  later  (731)  he  confirmed  the  Assyrian  supremacy  by  a 
second  campaign  (cp.  Schrader,  Die  Kei/inschri/len  vnd  das  Alle 
TeMament,  pp.  128  If.  ;  2nd  ed.  pp.  231  11".,  249,  259).  The  Baby- 
lonians, liowever,  constantly  endeavoured  to  regain  their  indejjendence  ; 
the  king  of  South  Babylonia,  Merodach  Baladan  I.,  in  particular  made 
repeatedly  vigorous  attempts  to  throw  off  the  Assyrian  yoke.  In  conse- 
(juence  of  this  Sargon  afterwards  undertook  an  expedition  into  Baby- 
lonia in  the  first  year  of  his  reign  (721),  and,  after  conquering  Merodach 
Baladan,  transported  some  of  the  Babylonians  to  Syria  (Scjiradek 
in  loc.  cit.  pp.  162  If.,  264  ;  2nd  ed.  pp.  276  ff.,  403  ;  cp.  2  Kings  17. 
24).— If  Micah's  jiropliecy  belongs  to  a  date  subsequent  to  this  event, 
the  historical  circumstances  were  peculiarly  favourable  to  the  idea  of 
a  deportation   to   Babylonia ;   but   even   if  the  prophecy  should   be 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  147 

perfect  accomplishment  of  God's  saving  purpose  ren^in 
concealed  from  tlie  prophets,  as  they  are  indeed  even 
from   the  apostles  and  the  Son  Himself,  seeing  they 

assigned  a  somewhat  earlier  date,  the  sLiiice  uf  the  prophet  might — 
in  view  of  the  known  policy  of  the  Assyri.ins  of  securing  conquered 
territories  by  the  method  of  transplanting  populations — easily  have 
been  directed  to  Babylonia,  which  was  in  special  need  of  such  a 
security.  Furthermore,  Micah's  contemporary,  Isaiah,  in  a  later 
utterance  threatened  the  steward  Shebna  with  transportation  to 
Mesopotamia  or  Babylonia  at  the  hand  of  the  Assyrians,  for  one  or 
other  of  these  districts  must  be  intended  in  the  "  laud  that  is  broad 
on  both  sides"  (Isa.  22.  18)  ;  and  even  Sennacherib  entertains  the  idea 
of  a  deportation  to  one  of  them  (Isa.  36.  17).  But  in  addition  to  that 
derived  from  the  historical  circumstances,  Micah  was  influenced 
further  by  a  motive  derived  from  his  typico-prophetic  way  of  looking 
at  history.  He  is  fond  of  setting  future  events  in  parallelism  with 
tlie  record  of  former  times  (cp.  4.  8,  5.  2).  Assyria  is  in  his  eyes  the 
land  of  Nimrod  {T).  6),  aiid  the  first  capital  of  Nimrod's  dominion  was 
Babel,  Gen,  10.  10.  There,  in  the  first  seat  of  a  world-power,  the 
distress  of  the  peo])le  of  God  is  to  reach  its  extremity  ;  there  also, 
however,  will  be  their  triumph  over  the  world-power. — It  may  be 
said,  indeed,  that  Micah 's  pro])hecy  was  fulfilled  in  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  captivity  under  the  Chaldeans,  inasmuch  as  these 
events  revealed  for  the  first  time  with  distinctness  the  Divine  imrpose, 
that  the  way  to  the  goal  of  j>erfection  should  lie  through  a  cata- 
stro})he  which  involved  tlie  complete  shattering  of  the  theocracy  in 
the  external  form  in  which  it  existed  at  that  time.  "VVe  may  also 
recognise  a  "singular  historic  coincidence"  in  the  fact  that  just  this 
Babel,  mentioned  by  Micah,  should  have  been  afterwards  the  land  of 
the  Exile.  But  it  must  be  frankly  conceded  that  Micah's  threat — in 
its  concrete  histoiical  interpretation — was  not  fulfilled.  He  did  not 
foj-etell  the  future  historical  fact  of  the  Chaldean  captii'ity  of  the  Jews, 
and  his  prophecy  does  not  go  beyond  the  analogy  of  other  prophecies 
because  of  the  mention  of  Babylon  as  the  scene  of  Israel's  distress  and 
deliverance,  but  keeps  within  the  ordinary  limitations  and  laws. — I 
allow  these  remarks  to  stand  unaltered,  as  I  concur  neither  with  the 
dictinn  of  SrADE,  that  Micah  4.  10  "is  at  all  events  a  vaticinium  ex 
eveniu"  [Zeitschrift  fi'ir  die  alttestament/iclie  W issenncli aft,  1881,  i). 
167),  nor  with  Nowack's  assumption,  that  at  least  the  words  ubhd'th 
adh-Bdhht'l  (and  thou  shalt  go  unto  Babylon),  are  a  later  addition 
{id.  1884,  p.  286)  ;  that  these  words  "utterly  contradict  all  that  we 
know  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Assyrian  period  "  cannot  be  reasonably 


148    llic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

are  known  only  to  tlie  Father.^     It  belongs,  however, 
to  the  nature  of  all  living  hope  to  bring  the  expected 
f  boon  as  near  as  possible  to  the  present  time,  and  this 
is  specially  true  of  a  hope  that  springs  from  a  faith 
in    tlie    almighty    (lod,    AVho    has    but    to    speak    to 
accomplish  the  greatest  marvels.      Hence  just  as  the 
apostles  expected  the  second  coming  of  Christ  in  glory 
as  an  event  in  immediate  prospect,-  which  in  fact  they 
themselves  hoped  to  survive,  so  all  the  prophets  expected 
^tlie  speedy  initiation  of  the  Messianic  time.     Tlie  energy 
of  their  faith  and  hope  attracted  the  Messianic  salva- 
tion to  the  utmost  possible  nearness  to  their  own  time 
/  — in   other  words,  brought  it  to  the  very  border  of  the 
I  times-horizon   that  bounded  their  iirospeet.       It  is   this 
circumstance,  and  not  the  visionary  character  of  the 
revelations   made   to    the    prophets,    which   serves   to 
explain   why  the   salvation   of  tin?    ^lessiauic  time  is 
always  the  bright  background  of  the  picture  in  which 
they  represent  the  immediately  inqiendiny  judgments. 

Now  it  lies  in  the  nature  of  the  case  that  the 
prophetic  consciousness,  owing  to  its  belief  in  the 
near  salvation  of  the  perfect  time,  does  not  distinguish 
carefully  between  the  immediately  im])ending  future 
.  of  the  Kingdom  of  (Jod  and  its  final  goal,  but  connects 
them  organically  with  each  other,  and  coml)ines  them 

allinned  in  view  <it"  the  passages  cited  above  from  Isaiah.  The  latest 
criticism  is  in  gciU'ral  far  too  ready  to  assume  "  contradictions,"  and 
in  relation  to  Jlicah,  in  particular,  the  apparent  contradiction  of  .Micah 
3.  12  with  a  whole  series  of  Isaiah's  prophecies,  might  t()  warn  against 
such  hasty  assumptions. 

1  Matt.  24.  36,  Mark  13,  32,  Acts  1.  7. 

*  1  Cor.  15.  51  f.,  1  Thci-s.  4.  16  f. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  149 

in  a  single  view.  Even  tliough  the  prophet  is 
conscious  that  he  cannot  accurately  fix  the  time  for 
the  commencement  of  the  Messianic  era, — and  except  / 
in  the  Book  of  Daniel  we  nowhere  find  exact  indi- 
cations of  date/  —  yet  he  sets  the  conditions  and 
circumstances  of  the  present  and  of  the  nearest  future, 
that  shapes  itself  from  them,  in  immediate  relation  to 
the  goal  of  history,  recognising  that  the  ways  along 
which  God  is  actually  accompanying  His  people 
assuredly  conduct  to  it.  And,  if  his  hope  presents^ 
this  goal  to  him  as  near,  why  should  he  not  in  his 
delineation  of  it  encroach  upon  this  present  ?  ^  He 
necessarily  looks  at  the  present  and  the  immediate 
future  in  the  light  that  is  reflected  from  the  end  of  the 
ways  of  God,  for  in  this  light  alone  are  the  riddles 
solved  which  are  involved  in  the  history  of  his  time. 

He  knows,  however,  the  obstacles  which  present 
conditions  and  circumstances  oppose  to  the  attainment  / 
of  the  goal,  and  the  state  of  contradiction  into  which  ' 
judgments  that  are  either  impending  or  are  already 
taking  effect  will  throw,  or  are  actually  throwing,  the 
position  of  the  people  of  God  and  their  relation  to 
heathen  peoples  with  the  position  and  attitude  which 
are  designed  for  them  in  the  counsel  of  God,  and 
which   they  will   be   permitted   to   enjoy    in   security 

^  An  exact  indication  of  the  time  wlieu  the  Messias  shoukl  be  born 
can  be  found  in  Isa.  7.  14  ff.  only  on  the  supposition  that  the  prophet 
really  intends  Immanuel  as  the  Messias.  But  we  cannot  consider  this 
hypothesis  correct.  No  argument  in  this  connexion  can  be  founded 
on  the  Book  of  Daniel,  which  is  a  late  aftergrowth  of  the  elder  type  of 
prophecy. 

-  Verfjetjemvartifjt.  ^  gge  Appendix  A,  Note  VI. 


inO    TJtr  Ilisforical  Clmrdctrr  of  Mrs^sidnic  J^rophmj  : 

ul'tor  tlie  attainment  of  thu  goal.  The  removal  of 
tliese  obstacles  and  tlie  settinc;  aside  of  this  contradic- 
tion  must  therefore  form  a  part  of  his  Messianic 
j)rophecy,  if  the  latter  is  put  into  his  heart  and  mouth 
by  the  Spirit  of  God  only  as  psychologically  mediated, 
and  standing  in  genetic  connexion  with  the  cognitions, 
conceptions,  and  ideas  which  constitute  the  stock- 
furniture  of  his  mind.  Thus  without  any  con.scious 
intention  on  his  part,  and  ibllowing  solely  an  inward 
compulsion,  the  prophet  always  gives  in  greater  or 
less  degree  a  times-colouring  to  his  delineation  of  the 
perfect  time,  and  tlie  final  deeds  of  Divine  power 
which  bring  it  about.  For  not  only  does  he  himself 
look  at  the  historical  present  in  the  light  of  the 
perfect  time,  but  also  vice  versa  he  sees  the  brightness 
of  the  latter  only  in  the  broken  coloured  light  in 
which  the  atmosphere  of  the  historical  present  suffers 
it  to  appear.  Hence  it  is  that  we  read  in  the 
^Messianic  prophecies  of  the  reunion  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  Ten  Tribes  with  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  of  the 
restoration  of  the  royal  house  of  David  to  its  former 
power,  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Edomites,  Moabites, 
Ammonites,  and  Philistines,  of  the  crushing  of  the 
oppressive  yoke  of  Assyria,  and  the  like. — It  need 
hardly  be  said  that  in  such  concrete  times-coloured 
features  we  cannot,  with  Hengstenberg,  see  mere 
pieiiires,  borrowed  from  the  circumstances  in  which 
V  the  prophets  lived,  in  order  to  give  a  comprehensible 
idea  of  the  character  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ.^ — In 

'  C'l).  Hent.stenbkug's  Christologie,  2ii(l  t'll.  iii.  2,  pp.  104  IT. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  151 

so  far,  at  least,  as  the  sense  attached  to  their  utter- 
ances by  the  prophets  themselves  is  concerned,  the 
fact  that  they  speak  of  the  Messias  as  a  king  resident 
on  Mount  Zion,  is  not  to  be  set  to  the  mere  account 
of  their  pictorial  style.  If  they  say  that  in  the 
perfect  time  Israel  will  no  more  seek  help  from 
Assyria  or  Egypt,  they  do  not  mean  to  represent 
merely  Israel's  faithfulness  to  his  God  under  the 
pictorial  form  of  a  particular  arbitrarily-chosen  instance. 
The  cessation  of  the  dualism  between  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  and  that  of  the  Ten  Tribes  is  not  to  them 
merely  a  symbolic  expression  of  the  idea  that  peace 
and  love  will  reign  among  the  people  of  God.  And 
when  in  their  Messianic  outlooks  they  speak  of  the 
overthrow  of  the  Edomites,  Moabites,  etc.,  or  of  a 
judgment  upon  Assyria,  Babylon,  etc.,  neither  is  the 
overthrow  to  be  at  once  translated  into  its  spiritual 
meaning,  nor  are  the  peoples  mentioned  merely  typical 
representatives  of  the  world  -  power  that  stands 
opposed  to  the  Kingdom  of  God.  To  the  prophets 
themselves,  and  to  those  to  whom  their  message  in 
the  first  instance  came,  all  such  times  -  borrowed 
features  in  their  prophecies  have  a  much  more 
substantial  and  immediately  practical  meaning.  Not 
something  which  they  figuratively  represent,  but  what 
they  actually  say,  in  the  simple  meaning  of  their 
words,  is  in  the  eyes  of  the  prophets  and  their 
contemporaries  imperative  to  Israel's  participation  in 
his  destined  salvation  and  glory ;  and  it  is  precisely 
these  times  -  borrowed    features    that  contribute  very 


152    Tltc  Hisiorical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

largely  to  the  fitness  of  prophecy  to  fulfil  its  im- 
mediate destination,  as  described  above  (pp.  133  If.). 
The  spiritualising  evaporation  of  the  entire  concrete 
matter  of  Messianic  prophecy  is  the  just  consequence 
of  Hengstenbekg's  ^  failure  to  fulfil  the  first  duty  of  an 
exegete,  that,  viz.,  of  placing  himself  on  the  standpoint 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  particular  of  the  several 
prophets,  so  as  to  judge  of  the  sense  which  they 
themselves  attached  to  their  words. 

The  expectation  that  the  "  end  of  days  "  is  near, 
occasions,  however,  not  merely  the  adoption  into  the 
jncturc  of  the  Messianic  time  of  features  borrowed  from 
the  times  ;  it  involves,  further,  the  frequent  glorification 
of  the  immediate  future  in  the  light  of  the  end  of  the 
ways  of  God.  An  immediately  impending  judgment 
is  not  unfrequently  portrayed  as  if  it  were  to  be  the 
final  judgment  of  the  world.  This  happens  especially 
when  the  prophecy  is  still  of  a  somewhat  indefinite 

'  To  do  justice,  howevei',  to  Henostex berg's  view  of  the  times- 
liorrowed  features  of  Messianic  prophecy,  we  must  not  forget  that  his 
Tuain  concern  is  alwaj's  to  elucidate  the  sense  which  God  intended  in 
the  prophetic  utterances,  and  not  that  wliich  the  prophets  themselves 
attached  to  them  (cp.  the  expression  of  his  meaning,  cited  p.  6).  Hence 
liis  conception  has,  as  we  shall  see,  a  certain  relative  value  in  cases  where 
the  interest  of  the  inijuiry  does  not  turn  on  wiiat  he  calls  "  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  prophecy  "  {die  Be-ichaffenheit  der  ^'dssaijiiuij),  but  upon  the 
<'xact  determination  of  its  ultimate  aim,  as  judged  by  the  fulfilment. 
It  were  to  be  wished  only  that  he  had  himself  remained  true  to  his 
l)ostulate  that  this  twofold  sense  was  "  to  be  accurately  distinguished," 
and  that  he  liad  not  so  misjudged  the  historical  sense  of  prophecy  !  As 
against  Ilia  spiritualising  exegesis,  cp.  Delitzsch,  Die  hihH,ich-pro- 
phetiic/ie  T/uoloijie,  ihre  Forthildiuvj  durch  Vhr.  A.  Crusius  mul  Hire 
neueste  Entwicktltimj  seit  der  ChriMoloijie  Hengstenhtrijs,  Leipzig  1845, 
pp.  167  tr.  ;  Oeiil1:r  in  loc.  cit.  pp.  649  f.  ;  and  Uektheau  in  the 
Jahrbh.f.  D.  Theol.  iv.  pp.  622  and  626. 


Its  Adaj)iat{o7i  to  the  Times.  153 

nature ;  whereas,  so  soon  as  the  prophet  is  able  to 
announce  definitely  the  precise  mode  in  which  the 
judgment  will  take  effect,  the  ideal  features,  represent-  y 
ing  the  picture  of  the  last  great  catastrophe,  became 
less  prominent  in  his  utterances.  An  instructive  locus 
on  this  point  is  the  powerful  delineation  of  the  im- 
pending day  of  judgment  (Isa.  2),  in  which  every  highi 
thing  shall  be  brought  low,  and  Jehovah  alone  shall 
maintain  His  transcendence  above  a  finally-demolished 
idolatry,  as  compared  with  the  more  definite  announce- 
ment in  Isa.  5.  25  ff.,  that  the  impending  judgment  will 
be  effected  in  two  acts,  and  that  the  Assyrian  army 
will  be  the  executor  of  the  second  act.  In  the  same 
way  near-expected  times  of  salvation  and  grace  are  fre- 
quently so  portrayed  that  their  commencement  appears 
entirely  coincident  with  that  of  the  perfect  time. 

We  cannot  pause  here  to  prove  in  detail  how  the 
Messianic  messages  of  the  prophets,  whose  delivery 
was  spread  over  the  course  of  centuries,  attest  the  fore- 
going expositions.  While  referring  the  reader  on  this 
point  to  the  discussions  of  Bertheau,  of  which  we  have 
made  frequent  mention,  we  are  content  at  present  to 
adduce  some  loci,  for  the  purpose  rather  of  illustrating 
than  of  fundamentally  establishing  what  has  been  said. 

In  the  case  of  the  oldest  prophets  whose  utterances 
are  preserved  to  us — viz.  Joel,  Amos,  and  Hosea —  -^ 
the  times-horizon  of  their  outlook  to  the  future  reaches 
only   to    the    turning  -  point    in    the    history    of    the  ^ 
Theocracy,  that  began   with   the   intervention  in  the 
fortunes  of  Israel  of  the  world-power  of  Assyria ;  and 


154    The  Historical  Character  of  ^fessian^c  Prophecy: 

immediately  behind  this  lies  the  Messianic  time.  Al- 
though these  prophets  clearly  recognise  that  much 
must  be  altered  in  the  people  and  kingdom  of  God  before 
the  final  goal  is  reached,  yet,  according  to  their  pro- 
phecy, the  history  of  the  Theocracy  comes  somewhat 
rapidly  to  its  end,  and  its  course  is  a  very  simple  one. 
With  Joel  (between  830  and  810)  it  is  entirely  that 
of  a  straight  line.  In  tlie  astoundingly  terrible  plague 
of  locusts  and  the  long-continued  dearth,  which  in  his 
time  desolated  the  land  and  caused  a  severe  famine,  he 
saw  an  immediate  indication  of  the  nearness  of  the  day 
of  judgment — even  the  beginning  of  the  final  judgment 
itself.^  But  when  the  people  respond  obediently  to 
his  call  to  repentance,  he  does  not  hold  out  any  fresh 
threats  of  Divine  judgment  against  Judah  and  Jeru- 
salem. On  the  contrary,  after  the  deliverance  from  the 
present  extremity  there  follow,  without  further  inter- 
vening catastrophes,^  the  Divine  deeds  through  which 
Jehovah's  purpose  of  grace  attains  fulfilment  —  the 
reunion  with  the  people  of  God  of  the  Judaeans  and 
inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  been  held  captive 
by  the  distant  sons  of  Javan ;  the  universal  outpouring 
of  the  Spirit ;  and  the  judgment  of  annihilation  upon 
the  heathen   peoples  assembled   for  the  final  conflict 

^  Joel  1.  1.^,  2.  1  f.  11.  Just  lieie  lies  a  niomont  in  tlie  proof  of 
the  high  anti(juity  of  the  projiliecj'  of  Joel,  to  which  sufficient  atten- 
tion has  not  yet  been  paid.  Tlie  dates  incidentally  given  in  tlie  text 
are  justified  in  tlie  art.  "  Zeitrechnung  "  in  my  Bihelworterburh. 

■•'  The  'achdrc-khin  (after  this)  of  Joel  2.  28  is,  of  course,  an  indefinite 
expression  ;  but,  considering  the  prophet's  view,  as  explained  aliove, 
of  the  present  extremity,  we  arc  certainly  not  justified  in  regarding  it 
as  meaning  for  him  a  prolonged  interval. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  155 

with  the  Kingdom  of  God,  through  which  Israel  is  for 
ever  secured  against  their  assaults.  Had  Joel  not  left 
the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes  entirely  out  of  account, 
he  would,  of  course,  hardly  liave  represented  the  way 
to  the  ultimate  goal  as  so  evenly  paved.  Amos  {circa 
760)  and  his  younger  contemporary  Hosea,  whose 
mission  concerns  principally  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten 
Tribes,  see  already  somewhat  more  of  what  the  imme- 
diate future  conceals  in  its  bosom  for  Israel.  Not 
simply  for  the  heathen,  but  for  the  people  of  God 
themselves,  there  is  imminent  a  severe  catastrophe  of 
judgment.  It  concerns  chiefly  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten 
Tribes,  which  will  be  wholly  uprooted,  whose  inhabit- 
ants—  as  many  of  them  as  have  not  fallen  victims 
to  death — will  be  scattered  among  the  nations.  Thus 
will  God's  judgment  remove  the  evil  of  a  divided 
kingdom.  Only  the,  comparatively  speaking,  less 
guilty  kingdom  of  the  royal  house  of  David,  to  whom 
God's  promise  is  given,  will  continue  its  existence.  Yet 
Judah  also  is  struck  by  the  terrible  judgment,'  for  it 
is  intended  in  general  to  extirpate  all  evil-doers  from 
among  the  people  of  God.^  These  prophets  also  fore- 
see that  the  judgment  will  be  effected  by  a  people  who 
have  but  lately  appeared  on  the  scene  of  history,  and 
who  come  from  the  far  North.  But  this  marks  the 
limit  of  their  prospect.  This  new  people  have  but 
entered  within  their  horizon,  and  are  still  half  in  the 
dark.      By   Amos,   and   in   the    earlier   prophecies   of 

^  Amos  2.  5,  6.  1,  Hos.  5.  10.  12  ft'.,  6.  4,  8.  14,  10.  11,  12.  2. 
2  Amos  9.  10, 


156    Tlic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

Hosea  (chaps.  1-3),  they  are  not  mentioned  by  name ; 
only  in  his  later  prophecies  (chaps.  4-14)  Hosea  points 
to  the  Assyrian  as  the  principal  instrument  of  the 
avenging  judgment,  and  to  Assyria  as  the  land  of  exile. 
But  even  there  it  remains  obscure  how  Ciod  will  again 
deliver  His  people  from  the  power  of  this  mighty 
enemy.  Similarly,  neither  of  them  knows  anything 
either  of  a  JuJgriient  threatening  Assyria  or  of  the 
impending  duwnfall  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah.  Deeply 
as  the  latter  will  be  humbled  by  the  judgment,  it  will 
yet  not  sink  under  the  weight  of  it,  like  the  kingdom 
of  the  Ten  Tribes.^  On  the  contrary,  so  soon  as  the 
double  object  of  the  judgment  is  accomplished  upon 
the  people  of  (}od, — the  restoration,  viz.,  of  the  unity 
of  the  kingdom  by  the  destruction  of  the  specially 
guilty  kingdom,  and  the  extirpation  of  evil-doers  from 
the  community,  or,  otherwise,  the  conversion  of  the 
remnant  of  the  people, — the  time  of  the  oMessianic 
salvation  is  just  about  to  commence,  in  which  Jehovah 
restores  the  fallen  Davidic  kingdom  in  its  former  bril- 
liancy and  power,  and  makes  the  kingdom  united  and 
great  as  of  yore.  The  people  of  God  will  then,  how- 
ever, participate  •  in  all  the  external  blessings  and 
spiritual  gifts  which  are  implied  in  the  completeness 
of  their  fellowship  with  (lod. — The  immediate  relation 
in  which  the  Messianic  oracles  of  these  oldest  prophets 
stand  to  the  historical  circumstances  of  their  time  nmst 
be  at  once  apparent  to  every  one.     Joel  begins  with 

'  Tlie  (lestmctioii  of  the  kingdom  is  not  to  be  read  into  the  rcfrain- 
likc  unnoiuicenuMit  Amos  2.  ;">,  iej)eated  almost  \erbally  in  Ilos.  8.  14. 


Its  AdajJtation  to  the  Times.  157 

the  comforting  promise  that  Jehovah  will  completely 
deliver  the  repentant  people  from  the  present  extremity, 
destroy  the  lociist-army,  send  henceforward  abnndant 
and  timely  rain,  and  bless  the  land  with  wonderful 
frnitf ulness  ; ^  and  towards  the  end  also-  the  prophet 
comes  back  to  this  just  then  peculiarly  comforting  and 
attractive  promise.  Because,  further,  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  had,  since  Behoboam's  time,  to  suffer  much  from 
the  attacks  of  hostile  neighbours,  iirst  from  the 
Egyptians ;  ^  then  from  the  Edomites,  who  had  invaded 
the  land  and  butchered  defenceless  inhabitants ;  *  re- 
cently, however,  and  specially,  from  the  Philistines,^ 
who,  in  alliance  with  Arab  tribes,  had  forced  their 
way  into  the  capital  itself,  slain  most  of  the  royal 
family,  plundered  palace  and  temple,  and,  by  means  of 
the  Phoenicians  (who  had  followed  the  army  as  slave- 
dealers),  sold  the  prisoners  of  war  as  slaves  to  the 
Edomites  and  the  distant  sons  of  Javan, — Joel's  threat 
of  judgment  is  directed  specially  against  these  peoples, 
while  his  Messianic  oracle  talces  the  form  of  a  promise 
of  deliverance  and  return  to  the  captives,^  and  of 
security  to  the  kingdom  and  its  capital  against  the 
attacks  of  neighbouring  peoples.      Add  to  which  that 

1  Joel  2.  18-27.  "  Joel  3.  IS.  *  1  Kings  14.  25  f. 

■•  Joel  3.  19.  The  suffix  in  h'^'artmm  (in  tlieir  land)  is  not,  as  has 
lieen  assumed  from  2  Kings  8.  20,  to  be  referred  to  the  Edomites.  It 
has  rather  to  be  connected  with  \Xshtr,  and  to  be  referred  to  bene 
ychiidhuh:  "in  whose  land  they  have  shed  innocent  blood."  Cp.  on 
the  order  of  the  words,  Isa.  7.  16.  Eightly :  Credner  and  WtJNSCHE 
in  loco. 

*  Joel  3.  1-18,  2  Chron.  21.  16  f.,  22.  1    Am.  1.  6  and  9. 

6  Joel  3.  1,  7. 


158    The  HUtoricul  Cluiracter  of  Messianic  Proiiliecy  : 

his  whole  announcement  of  the  straight  course  of 
the  history  of  the  Kin^'doni  of  God  to  its  goal  is 
throughout  conditioned  by  the  fact  that  he  cannot 
charge  the  people  of  the  kingdom  of  Judali  with  any 
defection  from  their  God,  and  that  they  were  ready  to 
obey  his  call  to  repentance. — Amos  is  acquainted  with 
the  prophecies  of  Joel  ;  but  there  is  only  one  feature 
of  the  latter's  testimony — that,  viz.,  of  the  wonderful 
fertility  of  the  holy  land — that  he  reproduces  substan- 
tially unaltered.^  He  speaks,  indeed,  as  does  also 
HosEA,  of  a  return  of  the  captives,  but  the  captives 
mean  no  longer  in  either  case  the  Judaeans  sold  to  the 
sons  of  Javan,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  Ten  Tribes,  who,  in  accordance  with  the  threats 
contained  in  their  prophecies,  have  been  carried  into 
exile  and  scattered  among  the  nations.  For  the  rest, 
the  times-colouring  of  their  Messianic  promises  appears 
particularly  in  the  prophecy  of  the  reunion  of  the 
entire  theocracy  under  the  royal  house  of  David;  in 
that  regarding  the  reconquest  of  the  neighbouring 
peoples,  especially  the  remnant  of  the  Edomites  ;  -  and 
in  the  announcement  that  in  the  perfect  time  Israel 
will  no  longer,  as  at  present,  seek  his  help,  now  from 
Asshur  and  now  from  Egypt.^  But  in  spite  of  all  this 
times  -  colouring,  the  oracles  of  these  oldest  prophets 
really  present  to  us  the  end  of  the  ivays  of  God;  we 
need  think  only  of  Joel's  propliecy  of  the  universal 
outpouring  of  the  Spirit,  or  of  Hosea's  beautiful  de- 
lineations of  the  intimate  and  eternal  love-covenant  on 

1  Amos  9.  13  ;  cp.  Joel  3.  18.  -  Amos  9.  12.  '  Hos.  14.  3. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  159 

which,  in  the  last  days,  Jehovah  will  enter  with  the 
people  of  His  possession.^ 

On  account  of  the  corruption  that  had  set  in  under 
the  rule  of  the  idolatrous  Ahaz,  the  announcements 
of  judgment  in  the  prophets  of  the  Assyrian  period, 
Isaiah  and  Micah, — a  judgment  which  the  Assyrians 
should  execute  even  upon  Judah,  —  strike  a  more 
decided  note  of  condemnation  than  is  heard  from  the 
elder  prophets.  Both  prophets  announce  repeatedly 
that  only  a  small  remnant  even  of  the  Judaeans  will 
turn  to  Jehovah,  escape  corruption,  and,  as  the  true 
Israel,  the  parent  stock  of  a  new  elect  people,  enjoy 
the  promised  salvation.-  Indeed,  according  to  Micah, 
the  impending  judgment  will  involve  the  shattering 
of  the  existing  theocracy,  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  temple,  and  the  carrying  captive  of  the  people 
to  Babylon.^  And  even  Isaiah  prophesied  the  same 
extreme  disaster,  not  merely  in  the  time  of  Ahaz,^  but 
even  as  late  as  that  of  Hezekiah,  at  the  time  when  the 
king  showed  an  inclination  to  follow  the  advice  of  the 
magnates,  and,  in  spite  of  the  prophetic  warning,  seek 
his  salvation  in  an  alliance  with  Egypt,^  When,  how- 
ever, Hezekiah  turned  with  his  whole  heart  to  Jehovah 
— on  which  account,  according  to  Jer.  26.  18  f.,  God 
repented  of  the  judgment  threatened  through  Micah — 
Isaiah  could  again,  as  he  had  done  before,  announce 

^  Hos.  2.  20  ff.,  14.  4  ir. 

-  Isa.  6.  13,  7.  22,  10.  20  ff.,  Micah  2.  12,  4.  6  f.,  5.  3,  7.  18. 

3  Micah  1.  16,  3.  12,  4.  9  f.,  5.  1,  7.  13. 

*  Isa.  7.  17  ff.  ;  cp.  28.  14  ff. 

5  ha.  32.  9  ff.  ;  cp.  also  22.  1  ff.  and  30.  12  ff. 


160   The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy : 

with  confident  Divinely  -  wrought  certainty  that  the 
overweening  Assyrian  would  not  succeed  in  taking  the 
city  of  God,  and  that  matters  would  not  reach  such  an 
extremity  as  the  downfall  of  the  kingdom.^ — If,  so  far, 
the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  and  Micah  are  only  such 
advances  upon  and  preciser  definitions  of  the  announce- 
ments of  an  Amos  or  a  Hosea  as  correspond  with  the 
progress  of  historical  development  and  with  the  ethico- 
religious  conditions  of  tlieir  time,  their  foresight  of  the 
future  is  in  this  respect  superior  to  that  of  their 
predecessors,^  that  they  see  clearly  and  definitely, 
hehind  the  judgment  of  Jehovah  upon  the  kingdom 
of  Judah,  the  judgment  of  almighty  vengeance  ^  which 
will  chastise  the  insolence  of  the  Assyrian,  break  his 
power,  and  again  deliver  the  people  of  God  from  his 
violence.  For,  in  the  meantime,  it  had  hecome  clear 
how  serious  an  obstacle  the  Assyrian  supremacy,  with 
its  high  -  flown  schemes  of  conquest  and  its  openly- 
annonnced  intention  of  putting  an  end  once  for  all  to 
the  independent  existence  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah, 
presented  to  the  ultimate  carrying  out  of  God's  purpose 
of  grace  towards  Israel.  Xothing  but  the  complete 
shattering  of  the  Assyrian  power  could  pave  the  way 
to  the  erection  of  the  perfect  Kingdom.  But  this 
latter  event  Isaiah  sets  in  the  closest  and  most 
immediate  connexion  with  the  impending  deliverance 

1  Isa.  33,  37.  22  iT.  ;  cp.  10.  32  (F.,  14.  24  tl'.,  17.  12  ff.,  IS.  4  tF.,  29. 
r>  iW,  30.  27  ff.,  31.  5.  8  f. 

-  With  the  sole  exception  of  the  aiitlior  of  Zech.,  chaps.  9-11,  who 
liad  given  a  brief  indication  of  an  impending  humiliation  of  Assyria 
(Zech.  10.  11).  3  Das  >ieicalli<je  Strafyirkht. 


Its  Adajptation  to  the  Times.  161 

of  the  people  of  God  from  the  Assyrian  tyranny. 
All  the  judicial  ends  of  God  are  attained  in  the 
immediately  impending  judgments.^  Hence  Israel's 
deliverance  from  the  yoke  of  Assyria  is  the  beginning 
of  a  series  of  Divine  deeds  of  grace,  by  which  Israel 
is  inwardly  and  outwardly  prepared  for,  and  made  to 
partici])ate  in,  the  salvation  destined  for  him.^  Nothing 
is  said  of  fresh  intervening  catastrophes.  The  triumpli 
of  the  theocracy  over  the  Assyrian  supremacy  lies  on 
the  border  of  Isaiah's  times  -  horizon,  and  he  sees  it 
transfigured  and  glorified  by  the  dawn -light  of  the 
Messianic  salvation.  Even  though  he  for  once,  as  in 
the  first  half  of  the  eleventh  chapter,  draws  an  entirely 
ideal  picture  of  the  perfected  Kingdom,  yet  he  does 
not  cease,  in  the  details  of  the  sequel,  to  give  special 
prominence  to  the  great  deed  of  deliverance,  that  falls 
within  his  horizon,  as  the  basis  and  beginning  of  God's 
final  deeds  of  salvation.  This  is  seen  in  the  fact  that 
the  latter  half  of  this  chapter,  in  strange  contrast  with 
the  former  half,  is  coloured  by  references  of  the  most 
pointed  and  unmistakable  kind  to  contemporary 
events  and  politics  to  a  degree  not  surpassed  by  any 
of  the  other  Messianic  utterances  of  Isaiah.  And  to 
how  great  an  extent  the  prophet  regards  the  Messianic 
prospect  as  one  that  had  already  drawn  near,  he  him- 
self expressly  tells  us ;  ^  and  it  is  indeed  already 
apparent  in  the  fact  that  from  the  moment  the  host 

1  Tsa.  10.  12. 

■■'  Cp.  Isa.  9.  1  ff.,  11.  11  fr.,  30.  19  fT.,  31.  7  fT.,  33.  17  ff. 

«  Isa.  29.  17. 

L 


1G2    The  Hidoriccd  Cliaracter  of  Messianic  Prophecy  f-^ 

of  Sennacherib  was  stirred  against  the  kingdom  and 
city  of  God,  the  prophet  necessarily  expected  the 
])rincipal  act  of  the  judgment  upon  the  Assyrians  to 
take  place  in  the  nearest  future. — Only  when  he  has 
seen  reason  to  represent  the  judgment  as  one  that  had 
risen  to  the  pitch  of  requiring  the  destruction  and 
devastation  of  Jerusalem,  does  he  find  it  necessary 
to  shift  backwards  to  a  corresponding  distance  the 
prospect  of  the  Messianic  salvation/  And  only  after 
the  kingdom  and  capital  have  been  delivered  from  the 
threatening  danger  of  the  Assyrian  hordes,-  and 
llezekiah  has  incurred  fresh  guilt  by  parading  his 
treasures  and  stores  of  arms,  and  by  his  vainglorious 
joy  over  the  honour  shown  him  by  the  Babylonian 
king,  does  the  prophet,  towards  the  close  of  his 
ministry,  open  up  the  further  sad  prospect  of  a  fresh 
judgment,  which  should  involve  the  carrying  of  the 
royal  family  captive  to  Babylon.-' 

With  MiCAii  the  dawn  of  the  IMessianic  time  is 
postponed  somewhat  further  than  with  Isaiah  (except 
in  Isa.  32);  for  he  must  place  in  view  the  downfall  of 
the  existing  theocracy  and  the  destruction  of  the  capital 
• — a  perception  which  requires  him  to  make  the  rebuild- 
ing of  Jerusalem  and  the  restoration  of  the  Davidic 
kingship  constituent  elements  of  his  Messianic  oracle. 

'  Isa.  c-2.  14. 

-  On  tlie  decision  involved,  in  the  above,  of  the  (juestion  regarding; 
tlie  dates  of  Isaiah's  prophecies,  cp.  the  article  "  Zcitrechnuug  "  in  my 
liihdworterhuch,  p.  1S1:5/^ 

-  ^  Isa.  39.  5  ir.  Always  supposing  that  tradition  has  given  this 
thic.itening  pi'ophccy  of  i.saiah  its  true  historiral  place. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  163 

The  perspective  towards  the  future  is  still  further 
extended  through  the  prophet's  looking  beyond  the 
enthronement  of  the  Messianic  king  to  a  final  assault 
upon  the  Kingdom  of  God  by  the  united  heathen 
world/  Still,  Micah's  times-horizon  is  not  wider  than 
that  of  his  greater  contemporary.  For  him  also  the 
destruction  of  the  Assyrian  world-power  means  the 
beginning  of  the  restored  and  completed  Kingdom  of 
God,^  and  the  Assyrian  appears  at  the  head  of  the 
heathen  confederacy  in  the  final  conflict  against  the 
holy  city,  suffering  the  penalty  of  his  ringleader- 
ship  in  the  devastation  of  his  land  by  the  victorious 
generals  of  the  Messianic  king.^ 

The  enthronement  of  the  idolatrous  Manasseh  con- 
stituted a  new  turning-point  in  the  history  of  the 
theocracy.  His  zeal  for  idol-worship,  the  introduction 
of  the  Baal  and  Ashtaroth  cults  into  the  temple  in 
Jerusalem,  the  bloody  persecution  of  the  faithful 
worshippers  of  Jehovah,  particularly  the  prophets,  the 
laxity  of  the  priests,  the  increasing  herd  of  false  pro- 
phets, the  general  declension  of  the  people,  reveal  how 
the  internal  condition  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  so 
hopeful  on  the  whole  during  the  reign  of  Hezekiah, 
reached  shortly  afterwards  a  lower  stage  of  degradation 
than  it  had  ever  known  before.  Soon  the  measure  of 
guilt  was  fulfilled.  Prophecy  begins,  in  consequence, 
to  threaten  a  fresh  and  more  severe  judgment  of  ven- 
geance, involving  the  destruction  of  the  capital,  the 
shattering  of  the  kingdom,  death  for  some  and  cap- 

1  Alicali  4.  11-13,  5.  :>  f.  15.         -  Mioah  7.  8  ff.        •"'  Micah  5.  5  f. 


1G4    TJic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

tivity  for  others  of  the  people,' — a  threat  which  is 
maintained,  even  when  in  the  person  of  Josiah  a 
(Sod-fearing  king  was  once  more  on  the  throne,  the 
judgment  being  only  delayed  nntil  the  godly  king 
shall  have  entered  his  rest.^  Of  the  executors  of  the 
/  judgment,  Zephaniah  and  even,  in  his  earlier  pro- 
^  phecies,  Jeremiah,  still  speak  just  as  indefinitely  as 
did  formerly  Amos  and  Hosea ;  they  are  a  people  who 
come  from  the  distant  North,  and  speak  an  unin- 
telligible language.^  It  is  only  after  the  Chaldeans 
have  begun,  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Jehoia- 
chini,  to  assume,  in  Anterior  Asia,  the  part  formerly 
played  by  the  Assyrians  {i.e.  after  the  battle  of  Car- 
chemish,  006  B.C.),  that  tliey  are  definitely  indicated  as 
the  instrument  to  be  used  by  Jehovah  to  execute  the 
judgment  decreed  against  Israel  and  all  other  peoples. 
— The  whole  terrible  contrast  between  the  position  into 
which  Israel  should  shortly  fall  through  his  guilt,  and 
the  great  destiny  assigned  him  in  God's  purpose  of 
grace,  lay  clearly  before  the  enlightened  eyes  of  the 
prophets.  They  saw  quite  close  at  hand  a  time  in 
which  the  kingdom  of  God  should  appear  to  the  eyes 
of  men  as  altogether  brought  to  nothing,  and  Israel 
must  once  again,  as  in  Egypt,  endure  the  yoke  of 
ignominious  bondage  far  from  the  holy  land.      Before 

1  Ci».  2  Kings  21.  n  fT. 

•^  Cp.  2  Kings  22.  15  ll.,  23.  2C  f.,  Jor.  15.  4. 

^  The  hypothesis  that  the  prophecies  of  Zephaniah  and  of  Jer.  ,1.  fi- 
<;.  30  find  their  historical  explanation  in  the  invasion  of  Anterior  Asia 
l.y  the  Scythians,  narrated  hy  Herodotus  (i.  15,  103-106  ;  iv.  11,  12). 
1  consider  untenable. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  165 

their  eyes  stood  also  the  mighty  Babylon,  equipped 
with  all  the  implements  of  power,  so  as  finally  to 
secure  the  world-supremacy  she  is  shortly  to  snatch 
for  herself.  But  certain  as  it  is  that  this  mighty 
colossus  must  fall  in  pieces  before  the  theocracy  can 
rise  erect  upon  its  ruins,  it  is  still  not  in  it,  but  in  the 
guilt  of  Israel,  whose  cry  is  gone  up  to  heaven,  and  in 
his  stiff-necked  obstinacy  that  the  chief  hindrance  lies 
to  the  fulfilment  of  the  purpose  of  election.  Because 
of  this  hindrance  the  Messianic  salvation  appears  now 
as  somewhat  further  postponed.  But  the  certainty 
that  the  people  of  God  will  yet  enjoy  this  salvation  in 
the  glorious  consummation  of  the  restored  theocracy  is 
not  only  firmly  maintained  by  the  prophets,  but  is, 
in  view  of  the  impending  destruction  of  Jerusalem, 
announced  with  all  the  more  emphatic  definiteness.'^ 
In  the  extremity  of  their  judicial  suflerings,  which, 
according  to  Jeremiah,  are  to  continue  for  about 
seventy  years,-  Jehovah  will  accomplish  His  intention 
of  purifying  His  people  and  bringing  them  to  full 
repentance.  Then  He  turns  to  them  again  in  all  the 
fulness  of  His  grace  and  faithfulness.  Babylon,  that 
has  executed  His  judgment  upon  all  other  peoples,  must 
lierself  finally  drink  to  the  dregs  the  cup  of  His  wrath. 
With  one  blow  the  whole  proud  edifice  of  her  world- 
empire  falls  in  pieces.  And  the  shattering  of  this 
empire  is  the  deliverance  of  Jehovah's  peculiar  people 
from  the  misery  of  the  captivity.  The  forgiveness  of 
their  sins,^   their  ethico-religious  renewal  effected  by 

'  Jer.  30-33.      -  Jer.  25.  11  f . ,  29.  10.      »  je,-.  31.  34,  33.  8,  50.  20. 


1  G  G    TJic  iristorical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy : 

Jehovah  Himself,^  remove  all  the  hindrances  offered 
by  the  people  themselves  to  the  full  accomplishment 
of  Jehovah's  saving  purpose.  They  return  to  the 
holy  land,  rebuild  the  destroyed  Jerusalem  and  the 
desolated  cities  of  the  land,  and  rejoice  once  more  in 
the  gracious  presence  of  Jeliovah  in  their  midst,  and 
]Iis  government  laden  with  blessing.  The  theocracy 
is  restored,  and,  as  so  restored,  it  is  tlic  Theocracy  of 

/the  perfect  time.  Throughout,  Jeremiah  brings  the 
dawn  of  the  Messianic  era  into  immediate  connexion 

<with  the  redemption  of  Israel  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
(.'haldeans.  Throughout,  he  speaks  of  the  people  who 
have  returned  to  tlie  holy  land  from  the  exile  as  of 
the  community  of  the  perfect  time,  with  whom 
Jeliovah  will  make  the  new  covenant,  on  whose  hearts 
He  will  write  His  law,  and  all  whose  members,  jrreat 
or  small,  will  stand  in  a  like  close  relation  to  Him, 
and  be  acquainted  with  Him.  Of  fresh  catastrophes, 
endangering  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  intervening 
between  the  deliverance  from  the  Babylonian  exile  and 
the  attainment  of  the  final  goal,  he  knows  nothing. 
From  the  moment  of  this  deliverance  God's  people  are 
conducted  by  a  straight  course  and  in  a  short  space  of 
time  to  their  glorious  destiny. — In  the  prophecy  of 
y  Jeremiah's  contemporary,  Ezekiel,  who  himself  lived 
and  laboured  in  the  land  of  captivity,  we  read,  indeed, 
of  such  an  impending  danger  as  threatening  in  the  "  end 
of  the  days,"  and  after  the  recrection  of  the  tlieocracy. 
The  victory  of  Jehovah   and   His  kingdom    over   the 

'  Jer.  24.  7,  20.  12  f.,  31.  33,  02.  39  f.,  3.  21  IF. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  167 

power  of  tlie  heathen  he  divides  into  two  acts,  con- 
siderably distant  from  each  other  in  point  of  time. 
The  judgment  of  God,  bringing  redemption  to  Israel, 
affects  immediately  only  the  neighbouring  peoples  that 
have  already  come  hitherto  into  conflict  with  the 
theocracy.  After  Jehovah  has  exhibited  Himself  to 
their  eyes  as  the  Holy  One,  who  with  a  mighty  hand 
redeems  His  people,  the  theocracy  can  be  again  erected, 
and  there  follows  for  the  people  of  God  a  time  of  sure 
rest  and  deep  peace.^  But  the  peoples  in  the  farthest 
North  and  South  (South- West)  have  not  yet  come  to 
know  Jehovah's  power.  They  group  themselves  in 
tlie  last  days  round  the  northern  king,  Gog,  in  conflict 
against  Israel.  But  Jehovah  annihilates  their  number- 
less troops  in  the  holy  land,  and  casts  upon  their 
countries  a  consuming  fire  of  judgment.-  Only  after 
even  the  most  distant  peoples  have  thus  experienced 
the  power  of  the  living  God,  and  been  made  aware  of 
the  inviolable  holiness  of  His  Kingdom,  is  the  latter  ^ 
secured  from  every  further  attack.^  But  if  in  this 
way  the  "  end  of  the  days  "  is  postponed  still  further, 
yet  even,  according  to  Ezekiel,  the  leading  back  of  thef 
captive  people  of  God  to  the  holy  land  indicates  tlie- 
beginning  of  the  perfect  time.  It  is,  in  fact,  just  this 
great  deed  of  Jehovah's  grace,  done,  not  for  the  worthi- 
ness of  Israel,  but  for  His  holy  name  and  truth's  sake, 
which  effects  for  the  hardened  and  blinded  people 
what  even  their  extremity  in  judgment  could  not 
effect,   a   repentant    acknowledgment   and    remorseful 

^  Ezek.  38.  8.  1 1  if.         ^  ^.zek.  39.  6.         '  Ezek.  chaps.  38,  39. 


168    The  llidorical  Character  of  Messianic  Propheci/  : 

shame  of  their  former  disloyalties,  and  a  sincere  turn- 
ing to  Jehovah.'  And,  because  the  faithful  covenant- 
God  forgives  their  sins,  purifies  them  from  all  their 
uncleannesses,  and  gives  them  a  heart  of  flesh  in  place 
of  the  stony  heart, — gives  them  even  His  own  Spirit, — 
they  are  made  ready  for  perfect  fellowship  with  Him  ;  ""^ 
and  as,  further,  all  the  neighbouring  peoples  have 
learnt  to  fear  His  power  and  holy  majesty,  nothing 
now  forbids  the  restoration  of  the  theocracy  in  all  its 
final  glory.  As,  with  Micah,  the  Messianic  king  has 
already  mounted  the  throne,  when  the  last  decisive 
conflict  will  burst  forth  between  the  theocracy  and  the 
heathen  world,  as,  in  the  Ilevelation  of  John,  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  has  been  for  a  thousand  years  in 
existence  before  Satan  is  again  set  free  to  bring  against 
it  the  troops  of  (log  and  Magog ;^  so,  with  Ezekiel 
also,  the  people  of  God  have  been  for  long  in  the 
enjoyment  of  perfect  fellowship  with  God  and  the 
glory  destined  for  them,  before  they  require  to  be 
secured  in  the  blessings  of  salvation  by  God's  judgment 
upon  the  hordes  of  Gog.  To  him  also  the  deliverance 
from  captivity  and  the  return  to  the  holy  land 
appear  glorified  in  the  dawn -light  of  the  ]\lessianic 
time. — And  yet  much  more  is  this  the  case  with  the 
great  prophet  who  lived  towards  the  end  of  the  Exile, 
and  whose  prophecies  are  contained  in  Isa.  chaps. 
40-66. 

He   recognises  clearly  how   thorough  a  sifting  and 

»  Ezek.  16.  61  ff.,  20.  43  f.,  36.  31  f. 

2  Ezek.  11.  H)  f.,  16.  63,  36.  25  ff.,  37.  23.  ^  Re  v.  20. 


lis  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  1C9 

renewal  the  people  of  God  still  require  to  be  able  to 
fulfil  their  great  prophetic  mission  to  humanity,  and 
how,  as  the  servant  of  Jehovah,  Israel  must  fulfil  his 
martyr-vocation  with  enduring  patience  and  faithful- 
ness unto  death  before  he  can  attain  his  destined 
glory.  His  prophecy  contains  an  exceedingly  full 
picture  of  future  liistorical  events,  among  which  are 
many  great  deeds  of  Jehovah's  grace  and  judgment, 
and  many  a  labour  and  suffering  of  the  servant  of 
God,  lying  between  the  present  and  the  last  time, 
when  as  a  royal  and  priestly  people  Israel  shall  stand  ■ 
between  God  and  humanity,^  the  sworn  counsel  of 
Jehovah,  that  every  knee  should  bow  to  Him  and 
every  tongue  swear  to  Him,^  be  fulfilled,  and  heaven "t 
and  earth  be  renewed  and  glorified.^  And  yet  in  the 
thorough  revolution  of  the  whole  situation,  effected 
in  his  time  by  Cyrus,  the  anointed  of  Jehovah,  the  man 
chosen  by  Him  to  carry  out  this  purpose,  Deutero- 
Isaiah  recognises  the  birth-throes  quivering  through 
the  world,  which  announce  the  speedy  dawn  of  the 
time  of  salvation,  and  after  which  the  perfected 
Kingdom  will  come  into  existence.  Throughout,  the 
(juite  near  event  of  the  deliverance  of  the  people  of 
God  from  the  tyranny  of  Babylon  means  to  him  the 
starting  -  point  whence  the  onward  course  of  God's 
saving  purpose  to  its  goal  of  fulfilment  is  uninter- 
rupted and  rapid.  The  people  whom  Jehovah  in  His 
own  Person  brings  back  from  the  land  of  captivity 
through  the  desert  to  Canaan — a  deliverance  in  whicli 

•  Isa.  61.  6,  66.  21.  -  Isa.  4.').  22  fF.  "  Isa.  65.  17,  66.  22. 


170   Tlic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

are  repeated  the  deeds  of  wonder  and  grace  of  the 
Mosaic  time — are  fitted  by  the  Spirit  of  God  for  the 
fullihnent  of  their  high  calling ;  ^  they  are  a  com- 
niimity  of  the  holy  and  the  rigliteous ;  for  no  unclean 
person  returns  to  the  holy  City  of  God ,2  all  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  gloriously  restored  City  will  be  taught  of 
Jehovah,  even  as  the  prophets  now  are.^  By  the 
judgment,  further,  upon  the  Chaldean  empire,  and  the 
glorious  revelation  of  Jehovah  in  the  deliverance  of 
His  people,  the  way  is  prepared  even  in  the  Gentile 
world  for  the  servant  of  God  to  fulfil  his  vocation; 
the  vanity  of  idols  and  the  sole  Godhead  of  Jehovah 
become  thus  manifest  before  all  flesh,*  as,  indeed,  his 
wonderful  successes  —  successes  foretold  by  Jehovah 
— must  even  now  bring  Cyrus  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  true  God.^ — In  short :  Henceforth  Jehovah  will 
not  again  be  wroth  with  His  people ;  '^  henceforth 
He  will  not  fail  to  glorify  Himself  ever  more  in 
them  in  eternal  grace,  until  they  shall  have  come 
to  participate  fully  in  the  salvation  of  their  God,  and 
all  peoples  have  been  brought  into  tlie  Kingdom  of 
God. 

We  might  proceed  to  show  how  even  in  the  2^ost- 
exilian  period,  when  the  promise  of  Israel's  deliverance 
and  the  reerection  of  the  theocracy  had  been  indeed 
fulfilled,  while  but  little  of  the  promised  salvation  and 
glory   was    to    be   seen   as    yet,   Messianic    propliecy 

'  Isa.  42.  1,  44.  3.  =  Isa.  60.  21.  ^  i^^   54    13 

*  Isa.  40.  5,  45.  6,  49.  26,  52.  10,  .59.  19,  66.  18. 
'  Isa.  45.  3.  «  Isa.  54.  9. 


Its  Ada.'ptation  to  the  Times.  171 

announced  afresh  the  message  of  the  sliortly  coming 
glorious  completion  of  the  theocracy  so  barely  restored, 
and  in  so  doing,  clothed  itself  in  a  new  times-borrowed 
garment ;  how  Haggai  ^  announces  the  performance 
within  but  a  short  space  of  a  mighty  Divine  act, 
shaking  heaven  and  earth,  sea  and  land,  and  the 
kingdoms  of  all  peoples,  by  which  all  the  power  of 
the  world-kingdoms  shall  be  destroyed,  and  all  peoples 
laid  under  tribute  to  present  to  Jehovah  the  homage 
of  their  gold  and  silver  for  the  adornment  of  the 
temple,  still  so  little  magnificent,  so  that  its  glory  be 
greater  than  before ;  how  Zeghariah  singles  out  the 
building  of  the  temple  into  an  edifice  worthy  of  the 
entrance  and  indwelling  of  Jehovah  as  the  most 
important  task  of  the  Messias  ;  ^  how  Malachi  expects 
that  the  coming  of  Jehovah  will  be  soon  and  sudden ;  ^ 
how  even  in  the  time  of  the  hard  conflict,  in  which, 
under  the  tyrant  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  Israel  had 
to  engage  for  his  ancestral  faith  and  worship,  the 
resurrection  of  dead  Israelites,  the  judgment  of  the 
world  and  the  erection  of  the  Kingdom  of  heaven  upon 
the  ruins  of  all  earthly  kingdoms  link  themselves,  in 
the  future-seeing  eye  of  a  prophet,  to  the  near  impend- 
ing triumph  of  the  people  of  God  over  the  fall  of  the 
tyrant.*  But  we  refrain ;  for  our  intention  of  illus- 
trating by  examples  how  the  prophets,  in  their  belief 
in  its  nearness,  place  the  Messianic  salvation  in  the 

'  Hag.  2.  6  ;  cp.  vv.  21  ff.  "'  Zecli.  6.  16.  '  Mai.  3.  1.  ?. 

♦  Dan.  2.   44,  7.  8  f.  11  if.  21  f.   25  ff...  8.   17,  11.  35.  45,  12.   1  ff., 
7.  11  ff. 


r 


172    The  Historical  Cliaracicr  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

most  immediate  and  intimate  relation  to  the  historical 
circumstances  of  their  own  time  and  to  the  events  of 
tlie  immediate  future,  has  been  sufficiently  fulfilled. 

Jieyond  all  question  we  must  recognise  a  limit  to 
the  vision  of  the  future  granted  to  the  prophets  by  the 
Spirit  of  Gcd,  in  the  fact  that  they  always  believed 
the  day  of  Jehovah  and  the  salvation  of  the  perfect 
time  to  be  much  nearer  than  they  actually  were,  and 
that  the  saving  thoughts  of  God,  which  should  at 
some  future  time  attain  accomplishment,  were  always 
present  to  their  consciousness  in  the  veil  of  features 
borrowed  from  their  own  times.  For  it  cannot  be 
pretended  that  God  would  always  have  actually  brought 
about  the  accomplishment  of  His  Kingdom  in  the 
precise  time  and  manner  announced  by  the  prophets, 
had  Israel  only  fulfilled  the  ethico-religious  conditions 
attached  to  the  promise.  In  the  counsel  of  the  eternal 
and  omniscient  God,  from  "Whom  not  even  Israel's 
future  attitude  was  concealed,  the  day  and  hour  of 
the  fulfilment  of  His  saving  decree  were  determined 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  the  Saviour  could 
appear  only  when  "  the  time  was  fulfilled,"  and  the 
light  that  should  arise  with  Him  upon  the  world  was, 
according  to  the  eternal  counsel  of  God,  of  a  much 
higher  kind  than  the  atmosphere  of  their  time  allowed 
to  appear  to  the  prophets.  Yet  this  limitation  of  the 
prophetic  prospect  did  not  imply  any  lack  of  Divine 
revelation  to  the  prophets;  it  was  no  flaw  cleaving  to 
Messianic  prophecy  and  disfiguring  it.  It  resulted 
rather  from  the   same   Divine   educative   -wisdom,   that 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  173 

concealed  from  the  apostles — has  concealed  also  from 
us — the  day  and  the  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  will 
come,  but  yet  bids  us  observe  the  signs  of  the  times, 
and  in  stedfast  watchfulness  and  readiness,  in  firm  faith  "^ 
and  enduring  hope,  keep  our  gaze  directed  to  the 
end  of  the  ways  of  God.  If  Messianic  prophecy  had 
shown  the  goal  of  the  history  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  the  long  misty  distance,  wholly  separated  from  the 
conditions  and  circumstances  of  the  actual  present,  it 
would  hardly  have  been  able  to  exercise  any  influence 
upon  those  to  Avhom  yet  it  was  in  the  first  instance 
vouchsafed.  Only  by  means  of  its  times  -  coloured  ^ 
character,  as  above  explained,  could  it  fulfil  its 
immediate  design  of  directing  the  cou]'se  of  the 
prophets'  contemporaries  in  present  perplexities,  of 
being  to  them  a  liglit  enabling  them  to  recognise  the 
way,  on  which  God  should  lead  His  people  in  the 
present  and  the  immediate  future,  as  one  that  con- 
ducted to  the  'perfect  consummation,  and  of  giving  their 
thoughts  and  conduct  direction  towards  this  goal. 
Of  a  solution  of  the  problems  of  the  future  that  went 
further  there  was  no  need.  If  only  the  next  piece  of 
the  road,  reaching  to  the  next  turning-point  in  the 
history  of  the  Theocracy,  were  illumined  by  the  light 
of  the  Divine  purpose,  and  if  men  saw  in  the  judg- 
ment, actually  on  the  way,  the  "  Judge  of  the  world 
ever  in  the  act  of  coming,"  and  in  the  dawn  of  the 
immediately  impending  time  of  salvation  and  grace 
the  "  Saviour  of  the  world  ever  in  the  act  of  coming,'  ^ 

^  Cp.  Oehler  in  lor.  cit.  p.  654. 


174    Tlic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

tlie  first  receivers  of  the  Messianic  propliecies  were 
fully  in  a  position  to  pass  their  life  in  faith  and 
obedience,  in  patience  and  hope,  and  in  their  own 
])lace  work  for  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  Clod, 
without  being  turned  from  the  right  course  by  the 
prevalence  of  unrighteousness  witliiu  the  theocracy,  or 
by  the  apparent  triumph  of  the  heathen  world-powers. 
The  faith,  moreover,  of  a  truly  pious  Israelite  was 
not  to  be  shaken  by  the  fact  that  the  dawn  of  the 
perfect  time  did  not  happen  so  soon  as  the  announce- 
ments of  the  prophets  might  lead  him  to  expect,  or 
that  therefore  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  individual 
details  could,  in  presence  of  wholly  altered  circum- 
stances, no  longer  be  expected.  And  for  two  reasons : 
Firdly,  immediately  succeeding  events  did  not  leave 
these  details  altogether  unfulfilled.  Just  as  the 
prophecy  of  the  world-judgment  in  Isa.  2  was  in 
some  sense  fulfilled  in  the  judgment  which  first  the 
allied  Syrians  and  Ephraimites  and  then  the  Assyrians 
executed  upon  Israel,  the  Messianic  prophecy  of  Isaiah 
found  at  least  a  relative  fulfilment  in  the  deliverance 
of  the  people  of  God  from  the  danger  threatening 
them  from  Assyria,  as  did  also  that  of  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  and  the  "  Great  Unknown  "  in  the  redemption 
and  return  of  the  captives  and  the  redirection  of  the 
theocracy.  And  even  although  this  times  -  adapted 
fulfilment  seemed  but  a  comparatively  small  beginning 
of  the  great  events  which  prophecy  had  placed  in  near 
])rospect,  it  was  yet  necessarily  regarded  as  a  pledge 
that  God   was   but  keeping  the   full  carrying  out  of 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  175 

His  saving  thoughts  concerning  Israel,  announced  by 
the  prophets,  safely  in  store  for  the  succeeding  time. 
Secondly,  and  this  the  other  reason,  the  godly  Israelites 
always  and  necessarily  recognised  in  their  own  guilt 
and  in  the  people's  unfaithfulness  the  hindrance, 
because  of  which  the  holy  and  righteous  God  still 
kept  from  them  the  perfect  fulness  of  the  promised 
salvation.  And,  indeed,  the  prophets  themselves  when 
the  good  times  announced  by  their  predecessors  have 
actually  commenced,  and  so  soon  as  Israel  has  incurred 
the  guilt  of  a  fresh  defection,  open  up  prospects  of 
new  and  severer  judgments  which  are  to  precede  the 
perfect  salvation. — Hence  also  we  find  tliat  the  later 
prophets  recognised  the  utterances  of  their  predecessors 
as  genuine  Divine  messages,  while  the  later  Jews 
gave  similar  recognition  to  all  the  prophetic  writings 
contained  in  the  Old  Testament  canon,  although  they 
must  have  known  that  the  Messianic  salvation  did  not 
appear  so  soon  as,  or  in  the  way  in  which,  it  seemed 
justifiable  from  the  actual  tenor  of  the  words  to 
expect.^ 

II.  In  what  we  have  advanced  hitherto  there  has  been 
nothing  like  a  complete  exhibition  of  the  connexion 
between  history  and  Messianic  prophecy.  The  histori- 
cal circumstances  of  the  varying  present  exercise  a 
qualifying  and  determining  influence  upon  the  contents 
of  the  latter  that  cuts  much  deeper  still — an  influence 
that  effects  even  its  innermost  kernel,  that  eternal  ideal 
^  Cp.  Bertheau  in  loc.  cit.  vol.  iv.  p.  625. 


170    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Fropltecy  : 

substance  that  is  enclosed  in  a  times-form.  We  have 
in  this  reference  to  direct  special  attention  to  two  points. 
1.  In  the  organism  of  the  Old  Testament  theo- 
cracy there  were  various  factors  which  exercised  a 
determining  influence  upon  the  formation  of  the  cir- 
cumstances and  conditions  that  either  coincided  with 
or  contradicted  the  will  of  God,  and  upon  the  course 
of  the  theocratic  development :  the  congregation,  the 
priesthood,  and  prophets ;  ^  the  common  people,  the 
princes  and  judges  (or,  in  general,  the  nobility),  and 
the  kingship.  The  influence  of  the  different  offices  and 
ranks  upon  the  constitution  of  public  life  and  the 
course  of  historical  development  did  not  remain  in  the 
course  of  the  centuries  always  the  same.  It  imparted 
itself  in  different  measures  at  different  times  to  the 
separate  factors.  According  to  the  historical  situation, 
the  hopes  for  the  continuance  and  prosperity  of  the 
theocracy  necessarily  attached  themselves,  in  greater 
degree,  now  to  the  one,  now  to  the  other.  It  could 
not  but  be  that  in  the  consciousness  and  thought-world 
of  the  prophets  also  those  factors,  which,  in  their  time, 
exercised  little  influence  upon  the  course  of  affairs, 
receded  into  the  background  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
their  regard  was  chiefly  directed  to,  and  their  thoughts 
principally  occupied  with,  that  factor  which  exercised 
a  preponderating  influence  upon  the  life  of  the  nation 
and  the  concerns  of  the  theocracy  as  regarded  the 
present  and  the  immediate  future. 

The  difTererit  situations  occupied  by  the  Israelites  at 

'  ProphctenMand. 


Its  AdajJtation  to  the  Times.  177 

the  different  stages  of  their  history,  involved  further 
that  the  special  attention  of  the  prophets,  as  well  as  of 
the  people  and  their  princes,  was  turned  now  to  the 
relation  of  the  theocracy  to  the  heathen  world-empires, 
or  the  relation  of  Judah  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten 
Tribes,  now  to  the  internal  condition  of  the  kingdom 
as  a  whole,  or  to  matters  of  religious  ritual  or  of  civil 
law,  or  to  one  or  other  particular  national  and  theo- 
cratic problem.  The  central  points  round  which  the 
genuinely  national  and  theocratic  interests  and  efforts 
revolved,  were,  of  course,  always  equally  the  central 
points  of  prophetic  interest.  Both  these  circumstances 
were  necessarily  of  far-reaching  importance  as  regards 
the  constitution  of  Messianic  prophecy.  A  special  con- 
sequence was,  that  now  one  set  of  ideas,  now  another, 
all  containing  germs  of  Messianic  apprehensions, 
assumed  supreme  importance  in  the  prophetic  conscious- 
ness,— now  the  idea  of  the  congregation  of  Jehovah,  ^ 
now  that  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  now  that  of  the 
theocratic  kingship,  now  that  of  the  priesthood,  now 
that  of  the  enduring  presence  of  God  in  the  temple. 
In  virtue,  further,  of  the  organic,  i.e.  the  psychologi- 
cally -  mediated,  origin  of  the  Messianic  prophecies, 
those  germs  that  were  specially  prominent  in  the 
consciousness  of  particular  prophets  necessarily  came, 
so  far  as  these  prophets  were  concerned,  to  be  developed 
in  preference  to  others.  Hence  we  see  that  in  the 
course  of  its  historical  development  Messianic  prophecy 
always  chooses  as  the  source  of  its  ideas  that  fountain^ 
of  Old  Testament  revelations    which  the  special  cir- 

M 


ITS    Tlic  Historical  Charoder  of  Messianic  Propheci/ : 

cumstances  of  the  time  cause  to  gush  forth  in  greatest 
abundance,  and  that  it  points  to  the  salvation  of  the 
perfect  time,  now  from  this  principal  point  of  departure, 
now  from  that.  Here  a  germ  of  Messianic  truth 
remains  for  long,  like  the  seed  -  corn  that  slumbers 
hidden  in  the  earth,  until  at  last  the  historical  circum- 
stances emerge  in  which  it  can  come  to  light  and 
prove  its  living  motive  -  force.  There,  on  the  otlier 
hand,  another  comes  under  favouring  circumstances 
rapidly  to  maturity,  and  unfolds  shortly  the  richest 
and  fairest  blossoms  ;  tlien,  however,  comes  a  stoppage  : 
its  motive  -  power  seems  to  abate,  and  finally  to  die 
away,  until,  perchance,  when  the  historical  circum- 
stances have  again  become  favourable  to  its  develop- 
ment, fresh  aftergrowths  of  motive-power  prove  that 
its  life  is  not  exhausted  yet.  The  law  which  in  this 
relation  governs  the  development  of  Messianic  prophecy, 
we  may,  however,  formulate  as  follows :  The  2^}'ophe((i 
make  particular  factors  in  the  oryanism  of  the  Old 
Testament  tluocracy  the  objects  of  their  Messianic  oracles, 
in  proportion  as  they  are  able,  in  their  time,  to  exercise 
a  decisive  influence  upon  the  realisation  of  the  idea  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God,  and  similarly  they  concern  tlumsclves 
with  the  different  national  and  theocratic  interests,  accord- 
ing to  the  measure  of  importance  ivhich  they  have  in  the 
circumstances  of  the  actucd  present  for  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  In  different  jJeriods  consequently,  of  the  history  of 
the  Old  Covenant,  now  one  and  noio  another  of  the  ideas 
contained  in  tlu  Old  Testament  religion,  and  embodied 
in   the  Old  Testament    theocracy,  forms    the   ^^ri'ncijtja/ 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  179 

starting-point  of  Messianic  prophecy,  and  the  princiiml 
source  of  its  p)ccidiar  content. 

We  shall  endeavour  to  illustrate  and  prove  this 
position  more  in  detail.  In  doing  so  we  glance  first 
of  all  at  the  history  of  the  development  of  Messianic  j^ 
prophecy  in  the  narroiver  sense  of  the  phrase — that,  / 
viz.,  which  has  grown  from  the  idea  of  the  theocratic 
kingship.  With  JoEL  the  Messianic  king  has  found  as 
yet  no  place  in  the  picture  of  the  perfected  Kingdom. 
His  prophecy  is  still  a  product  of  the  common  soil  of 
the  ideas  of  the  people  and  the  Idngdom  of  God ;  and 
the  end  which  the  community  is  to  attain  through  the 
perfecting  of  its  fellowship  with  Jehovah,  is  represented  ^ 
to  him  in  the  phenomenon,  prophecy.  When  the  gift  of 
prophecy  has  become  a  common  possession  of  all,  the 
goal  is  reached.^  With  the  succeeding  prophets  the 
oracle  of  the  appearance  of  the  JMessianic  king  is  in  the  t. 
moment  of  hirth.  Amos  associates  the  dawn  of  the 
perfect  time  with  the  restoration  of  the  Bavidic  king- 
ship in  its  former  power  and  glory ;  but  he  does  not 
speak  of  the  person  of  the  Messias ;  in  other  respects, 
too,  his  prophecy  is  very  undeveloped,  for  the  perfection 
of  the  Kingdom  consists,  according  to  him,  principally 
in  the  permanent  restoration  of  a  state  of  things  that 
has  already  existed.  In  the  happy  times  of  David  and 
Solomon  his  ideal  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  already 
all  but  fulfilled."  The  Davidic  kingship  has  the  same 
position  in  the  prophecy  of  Hosea  ;  apart  from  it,  he  ' 
also  is  unable  to  conceive  the  Kingdom  of  the  perfect 

i  Joel  2.  28  f.  Amos  9.1  If. 


180    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

time.  Tlie  conversion  of  Ephraim  to  Jehovah  means 
also  his  return  to  allegiance  to  the  Davidic  king ; '  the 
\  latter  is  not  yet,  however,  called  the  Messias.  We 
can  hardly  be  wrong  in  interpreting  this  appearance  of 
I  the  Davidic  kingship  within  the  circle  of  Messianic 
])rospect  as  the  effect  of  the  very  promising  fresh 
exaltation  of  the  idea  which  began  with  the  reign  of 
Uzziah — a  king,  adorned  with  all  the  virtues  of  a 
ruler,  as  pious  as  he  was  energetic.^  Amos  and  Hosea 
(ilearly  recognised  that,  in  spite  of  the  passing  pro- 
sperity it  enjoyed  again  under  Jeroboam  II.,  the  king- 
dom of  the  Ten  Tribes  was  on  the  sure  way  to  ruin. 
For  the  evils,  however,  which  inevitably  brought  about 
this  result,  the  kingship,  which,  amid  all  changes  in  the 
royal  line,  kept,  even  in  its  better  times,  to  the  ways 
of  Jeroboam  I.,  who  "  made  Israel  to  sin,"  was  chiefly 
responsible."^  The  kingdom  of  Judah,  on  the  other 
hand,  not  merely  rose  again  to  a  position  of  external 
prestige  and  power,  such  as  it  had  not  known  since  the 
disruption  from  the  other  tribes,  but,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  the  prophets  still  found  enough  to  reprove 
and  to  threaten  with  punishment,  its  internal  condition 

'  Hos.  1.  11,  3.  .^.  111  Hos.  1.  11  the  variously  interpreted  w^'dlu 
iniii-Hu'dretN  (and  they  shall  come  up  from  the  land)  is  to  our  tliink- 
iii,!:;  to  be  understood  as  referring  to  the  festive  convoy  which  all  the 
jii'ople  give  to  the  king  of  their  common  choice  on  his  entry  into  the 
palace  (cp.  the  jmrallel  in  1  Kings  1.  35.  40).  SiMsox'.s  exegesis 
is  tlierefore  substantially  correct  (cp.  on  this  passage). 

-  Cp.  on  him  :  Ewald,  Gesch.  des  Votkex  Israil,  vol.  iii.  p]>.  585  ff. 
(Eng.  Trans,  vol.  iv.  pp.  143  If.)  ;  and  Eisexlohu,  Das  Volk  Israel 
iinti-r  (Itr  Hermrhafl  der  Kiinigc,  vol.  ii.  pp.  204  fl'. 

3  Tp.  2  Kings  14.  24,  15.  9. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  181 

also,  so  far  as  the  influence  and  powerful  rule  of  the 
pious  king  extended,  assumed  a  hopeful  aspect.  Men 
experienced  again  what  a  blessing  for  the  theocracy 
the  much  more  firmly  rooted  kingship  of  Jehovah's 
chosen  Davidic  house  was ;  to  it  Judah  owed  at  least 
the  greatest  proportion  of  the  reasons  of  its  superiority 
over  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes.  In  its  full  resti- 
tution, consequently,  prophecy  recognises  one  of  the 
most  essential  conditions  of  the  perfection  of  the 
theocracy.  The  facts,  moreover,  that  both  Amos  and 
Hosea  have  principally  in  view  the  kingdom  of  the 
Ten  Tribes,  and  that  a  Davidic  king,  such  as  in 
their  time  adorned  the  throne,  seemed  competent  to 
set  aside  the  calf  worship  of  Ephraim,  and  to  restore 
the  unity  and  greatness  of  the  theocracy,  made  it  all 
the  easier  for  these  prophets  to  content  themselves 
with  the  merely  general  conception  of  the  Davidic 
kingship. 

The  Messianic  king  himself  we  meet  with  first  of 
all  in  the  prophecy  of  a  younger  contemporary  of 
Hosea,  the  author  of  Zech.  9-11.  He  tells  ^  of  the 
Messias  making  his  peaceful  entry  into  Jerusalem 
amid  the  plaudits  of  the  people,  and  depicts  the 
character  of  his  person  and  rule.  As  God  Himself 
is  tsaddik  umOslii'a  (a  just  one  and  a  Saviour),-  so  is 
this  king  as  His  representative  upon  earth  tsaddik 
vfnosha'  (just  and  saved,  R.V.  margin) ;  his  kingly 
action  is  in  entire  harmony  with  the  standard  of  the 
Divine  will,  and  therefore  Jehovah  grants  him  at  all 
1  Zech.  9.  9  f.  -  Isa.  45.  21. 


182    The  Historical  C/unadcr  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

times — and  through,  him.  the  j^eople — salvation.^  He 
is,  further,  humble  and  meek  (Cini),  far  from  all 
self-exaltation  and  violence  in  his  bearing  to  others. 
Exaltation  and  liuniility,  the  fulness  of  God  -  granted 
power,  and  the  meekest,  most  peaceful  disposition  are 
united  in  him.  Without  any  of  the  martial  imple- 
ments of  power  in  use  in  the  kingdoms  of  the  world, 
— implements  previously  removed  by  God's  judgment 
from  His  Kingdom,  —  he  effects  peace  among  the 
nations  by  his  mere  word.  And  the  blessed  rule  of 
this  highly-honoured,  Divinely-powerful  king  of  peace 
extends  from  sea  to  sea,  and  from  the  river  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  Not  long  after  the  delineation  of 
this  picture  ^  we  see  the  prophecy  of  the  Messianic 
king  reaching,  in  the  main,  the  culminating  i^oint  of  its 
development  in  Isaiah  and  his  contemporary  Micah. 
Both  prophets  associate  with  his  appearance  the  dawn 
of  the  Messianic  time,  and  point  to  him  as  the 
perfecter  of  the  theocracy.  Both  speak  of  him  as  of 
a  hitman  king,  whose  person,  however,  is  wonderful, 
who  in  virtue  of  his  unique  relation  to  God  stands  high 
(d)ove  all  other  men,  as  the  orcjan  throu2;h  whom  God 
Himself  accomplishes  His  saving  purpose  as  the 
mediator  of  the  Messianic  salvation  for  the  people  of 
God  and  for  humanity.     In  the  time  of  Ahaz,  Isaiah  ^ 

'  Cp.  Jer.  23.  6,  Deut.  33.  29. 

-We  assume  that  Zech.  chaps.  10  and  11  belong  to  tlie  time  of 
Pekah,  Zecli.  9  to  a  somewhat  earlier  date.  On  the  discussion  lately 
raised  afresh  by  Stade  {ZeKsch.  fiir  die  alttest.  Wissen^cha/t,  1881,  pp. 
1  tf.  ;  1882,  pp.  151  ff.  and  27.0  ff.)  as  to  the  date  of  these  prophecies, 
we  cannot  here  enter. 

■^  Isa.  9.  (J  f. 


Its  Adaptation  to  ilic,  Times.  183 

depicts  him  as  a  king,  who,  in  a  degree  extraordinary 
and  surpassing  human  insight,  knows  to  devise  always 
and  for  everything  the  best  counsel ;  there  is  some- 
thing Divinely  wonderful  in  his  counsel  -  creating 
energy.^  Because,  further,  God  Himself  makes  him, 
like  the  angel  of  Jehovah,  the  organ  of  His  self- 
revelation,  accomplishes  through  him  His  mighty 
deeds  of  power,  and  is,  in  and  through  him,  ivitli  His 
people,  he  is  called  "  mighty  God " — a  designation 
applied  elsewhere '  to  Jehovah  Himself.  We  must 
bear  in  mind  the  strictness  with  which  Old  Testament 
faith  maintains  the  transcendence  of  the  holy  God 
above  every  creature,  to  estimate  aright  tlie  unique 
and  intimate  relation  to  God  ascribed  to  the  Messianic 
king  by  this  transference  to  him  of  a  Divine  name.  *^ 
He  is  further  characterised  as  the  everlasting  fatherly 
provider  for  the  people  of  God,^  and — as  in  Zech.  9 
— the  prince  of  peace.  His  Messianic  work  of  salva- 
tion, however,  consists  in  delivering  the  people  of  God 
from  the  yoke  of  the  Assyrians,  in  destroying  all  the 
implements  of  war*  and  establishing  eternal  peace,  in 
confirming  and  enlarging  the  dominion  of  the  Davidic 
kingship,  and  causing  perfect  equity  and  righteousness 
to  prevail  in  the  kingdom  of  God.^     Still  more  minute 

'  Pele    yoets  ;  cp.  Isa.  28.  29,  where  it  is  said  of  God  hipMi  'etsdh. 

"  Cp.  Isa.  10.  21,  Deut.  10.  17,  Jer.  32.  18. 

»  Cp.  Isa.  22.  21  ff.  together  with  Hab.  3.  3  ff. 

■»  That  both  these  functions  belong  to  the  Messias  we  infer  from 
the  H  (for)  of  Isa.  9.  6,  and  from  the  reference  to  the  "  day  of 
Midian  "  in  ver.  4. 

'"Righteousness  and  judgment"  are  the  foundation  of  God's 
throne,  therefore  also  the  foundation  of  Messias'  throne  (cp.  Ps.  89. 14). 


18-i  Tlw  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

is  Isaiali's  characterisation  of  the  person  and  govern- 
ment of  the  Messias  in  a  propliecy  belonging  to  the 
time  of  Hezekiah.^  On  him,  as  on  no  other,  rests  the 
Spirit  of  the  Jehovah,  supplying  him  with  those  gifts 
and  qualifications  that  fit  him  to  be  the  organ  by 
"whom  Jehovah  Himself  conducts  the  government  of 
His  kincfdom — with  the  knowledfre  and  fear  of  God, 
with  wisdom  for  government,  with  Divinely  -  effective 
energy.  His  main  endeavour  is  that  his  people 
should  fear  Jehovah ;  his  delight  is  in  the  fear  of 
God.  In  his  judicial  decisions  he  does  not  judge 
according  to  the  outward  appearance  nor  according  to 
human  testimony ;  his  sure  insight  penetrates  rather 
always  the  thing  itself  and  the  human  heart ;  he 
judges  according  to  the  real  state  of  the  case,  and 
according  to  men's  moral  and  religious  worth.  His 
exercise  of  justice  is  not  impaired  by  human  weakness  ; 
it  is  exercised  by  God's  Spirit  through  him  in  such  a 
way  that  in  judging  men  he  applies  the  very  standard 
according  to  which  Jeliovah  Himself  judges.  He 
secures  their  lawful  rights,  in  particular,  to  the  poor 
and  needy ;  but  his  mere  word  is  sufficient  to  strike 
down  the  violent  and  to  slay  the  wicked.  Thus  he 
reigns  as  a  king,  whose  fairest  adornment  is  righteous- 
ness and  faithfulness  towards  God  and  man.  Thus, 
further,  by  his  rule  the  theocracy  becomes,  what  it 
is  intended  to  be,  a  kingdom  in  which  evil  no  longer 
happens,  and  none  does  hurt  to  another, — a  kingdom 
filled  with  the  living  knowledge  of  Jehovah,  and 
'  isa.  11. 1  nr. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  185 

therefore  with  righteousness  and  peace.  In  relation 
also  to  its  extent,  the  theocracy  becomes  through  him 
what  it  is  intended  to  be.  His  place  of  abode  becomes 
the  metropolis  of  all  kingdoms,  all  nations  pay  him 
homage,  and  obtain  from  him  the  decision  of  all 
controversies — advice,  direction.  He  is  therefore  the 
mediator  of  the  Messianic  saving  work  of  Jehovah 
depicted  in  Isa.  2.  1  ff.,  by  which  the  nations  learn 
the  laM^  of  God,  and  the  earth  becomes  a  kingdom  of 
peace. — A  precisely  similar  picture  of  the  Messianic 
king  is  drawn  by  Micah.^  After  God's  judgment  has 
gone  forth  against  both  Jerusalem  and  the  royal  house 
of  David,  the  latter  will  once  again  be  lifted  up  out 
of  the  deepest  humiliation  and  obscurity  to  the 
highest  power  and  honour.  The  Alessianic  branch 
will  spring,  like  David,  from  its  ancient  stem- — 
from  the  small,  unpretentious  Bethlehem.  In  the 
restitution  of  the  Davidic  kingship  ancient  history 
repeats  itself,  just  as  in  the  restitution  of  the  people, 
by  their  being  led  out  of  the  land  of  captivity.  This 
Messianic  king,  moreovei",  will,  as  the  organ  and 
viceroy  of  Jehovah,  the  shepherd  of  Israel,  fulfil  the 
part  of  a  shepherd  of  the  people  of  God,  clothed  with 
the  almighty  power  of  Jehovah ;  and  his  rule  will 
be  such,  that  in  and  through  it  God's  great  name— i.e. 

1  Micah  5.  2  ff. 

'  In  this  sense,  in  contrast  partly  with  the  unpretentious  place  of 
birth,  partly  with  the  succession  of  upstarts  in  the  kingdom  of  the 
Ten  Tribes,  the  words  umotsd'othdv  mikhedhem  mlmS  'oldm  ("whose 
»oings  forth,"  etc.)  are  to  be  understood,  Cp.  Ewald  and  HiTzir,  on 
Micah  5.  2.  The  objection,  that  all  Israelites  were  of  like  ancient 
origin,  is  ill-considered.     Do  not  we  also  speak  of  an  "  old  family  "  ? 


186    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

the  glory  of  that  which  CJod  Himself  is  to  His  people 
— becomes  manifest.  Passing  by  other  features  in 
Micah's  description,  let  us  now  ask :  How  did  it  come 
about  that  just  these  prophets  should  have  been 
forward  to  develop,  almost  as  perfectly  as  they  have 
been  developed  anywhere  in  Old  Testament  times, 
the  truths  regarding  the  saving  purpose  and  sovereign 
plan  of  God  that  are  involved  in  the  idea  of  the 
theocratic  kingship? — It  might  be  answered:  Once 
this  idea  had  come  within  the  circle  of  the  Messianic 
hopes,  the  prophets  must  soon  have  become  conscious 
of  the  contradiction  between  it  and  the  historical 
kingship,  and  thus  the  more  general  prophecy  of  the 
Uavidic  kingship  of  the  perfect  time  would  necessarily 
transform  itself  into  the  more  definite  prophecy  of  a 
Davidic  Messias.  This  explanation,  however,  cannot 
suffice  of  itself.  If  this  were  peculiarly  the  cause  of 
the  development  of  ^Messianic  prophecy  in  the  nar- 
rower sense,  why  does  the  latter  not  come  then 
specially  to  the  forefront,  when  the  contradiction  is  at 
its  height  ?  Why  not  in  the  time  of  an  Ahaz  much 
rather  than  in  the  time  of  a  Hezekiah  ?  ^  And  why 
is  it  that,  as  we  shall  see,  the  image  of  the  Messianic 
king  fades  away  just  during  the  reigns  of  the  last 
kings  of  Judah  ? 

^  Delitzsch,  indeed,  asserts  tliat  this  was  actually  the  case — but 
in  contradiction  with  the  facts,  Cp.  Oehlek,  art.  "ilessias,"  in 
Herzog's  Rtalcncyhlopiidk,  1st  ed.  p.  414.  In  the  2nd  ed.  vox 
Orelli  has  removed  the  remarks  relative  to  this  point,  doubtless 
because  he  agrees  with  Dklitzsch  in  assigning  Isa.  11  to  the  time  of 
Ahaz  (cp.  his  work,  Die  alttest.  Weisiagung) — an  hypothesis  which 
I  consider  (^uite  unreliable. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  187 

We  can  find  the  reason  of  this  rapid  and  rich 
development  of  the  prophecy  of  the  Messianic  king 
only  in  the  greater  importance  which,  in  consequence 
of  the  complications  of  the  theocracy  with  the  Assyrian 
world-power,  the  Davidic  kingship  won  for  the  former. 
These  complications  were,  for  the  whole  course  of  the 
liistory  of  the  theocracy,  much  more  fatal  than  the 
earlier  conflicts  with  neighbouring  peoples.  During 
them,  however,  the  burden  of  decision  lay  principally 
M'ith  the  kingship.  The  fate  and  position  of  the 
kingdom  depended  mainly  upon  the  character  of  the 
king's  rule,  upon  his  policy  and  attitude  (of  depend- 
ence or  independence)  towards  the  Assyrians.  We 
see,  indeed,  how,  according  to  Isa.  7,  the  fatal  choice 
made  by  Ahaz  at  the  decisive  moment  rendered  the 
threatening  judgment  inevitable ;  how,  according  to 
Isa,  32,  Hezekiah's  inclination  to  defer  rather  to  the 
advice  of  his  magnates,  who  urged  an  alliance  with 
Egypt,  than  to  the  will  of  Jehovah,  threatens  to  bring 
about  yet  greater  disaster ;  and  how,  on  the  contrary, 
his  unreserved  decision  for  Jehovah  is  the  salvation 
of  the  kingdom.  No  wonder  that  at  such  a  time  the 
eyes  of  the  prophets  were  directed  chiefly  to  the 
kingship.  The  theocracy  meets  the  Assyrian  world- 
power  principally  in  the  person  of  its  king,  in  whom 
its  power  is  concentrated,  and  who  is  its  representative 
abroad.  Hence  Messianic  prophecy  begins  from  this 
point  to  make  the  accomplishment  of  the  Kingdom,  in 
spite  of  the  obstacles  thrown  in  its  way  by  the 
Assyrian  world-power,  depend  mainly  upon  the  coming 


u 


188    TItc  Historical  Cliaractcr  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

of  the  son  of  David,  in  whom  the  theocratic  kingship 
should  actually  become  what  it  ideally  is, — It  would 
be  easy  to  show  in  detail,  particularly  from  Isa.  it 
and  Micah  5,  how  the  Messianic  kingship  is  expressly 
represented  by  the  prophets  as  the  institution  by 
means  of  which  the  theocracy  of  the  perfect  time  is 
able  to  exalt  itself  in  victorious  defiance  of  the  Assyrian 
looiid-poioer. 

That,  moreover,  the  prophets*  once  they  had  set 
themselves  to  depict  the  Messianic  king,  should  give 
prominence  to  the  point  that  under  his  rule  righteous- 
ness and  judgment  should  have  full  sway  in  the 
internal  affairs  of  the  theocracy,  and  that  the  universal 
acknowledgment  and  worship  of  Jehovah  should  be 
powerfully  promoted,  resulted  almost  unavoidably  from 
their  perception  of  the  scanty  result  attending  the 
well-meant  efforts  of  Hezekiah  in  this  direction. 
^-^  Let  us  mark  now  the  further  development  of  the 
prophecy  concerning  the  Messianic  king.  The  later 
prophets  testify  unmistakably  to  an  arrest  lasting  up 
to  the  time  of  the  Exile.  The  Messias  indeed  meets 
us  in  Jeremiah  at  the  end  of  an  oracle  (belonging  to 
the  time  of  Jehoiachin)  on  the  wicked  and  hapless 
kings  Jehoahaz,  Jehoiachim,  and  Jehoiachin,^  and  in 
the  promises  of  salvation  issued  shortly  before  the 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,-  as  also  in  Ezekiel.-'  But  he 
is  no  longer,  as  with  Isaiah  and  Micah,  in  the  centre 
of  the  picture  which  these  prophets  draw  of  tlu- 
perfected  Kingdom  ;    and  there  is  hardly  a  new  idea, 

1  Jer.  23.  5  f.      -  Jer.  30.  9.  21,  33.  15.     ^  21.  27,  34.  23  f.,  37.  24. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  189 

except  perhaps  one,  new  at  least  as  to  form, — that,  viz., 
implied  in  the  characterisation  of  the  intimate  relation 
of  the  Messianic  king  to  Jehovah  as  a  priestly  one.^ 
On  the  other  hand,  there  are  in  Jeremiah  and  Ezekiel, 
besides  these  passages,  other  Messianic  prophecies,  in 
which  again,  as  with  Amos,  mention  is  no  longer  made 
of  the  person  of  the  Messias,  but  only  of  the  successive  , 
kings  of  the  Davidic  line.-  Messianic  prophecy  in 
the  narrower  sense  relapses  in  these  passages  to  its 
initial  stage  of  development.  Indeed,  other  prophets 
of  the  Chaldean  period,  as  Zephaniah,  the  author  of 
Zech.  12-14,  Obadiah,  and  the  author  of  Isa.  24-27, 
do  not  mention  the  kingship  of  the  Messianic  theocracy 
at  all, — a  distinct  proof  that  the  idea  of  the  theocratic 
kingship  had,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  godly  of  that 
time,  lost  much  of  its  significance  for  the  theocracy. 
As  opposed  to  it,  the  idea  of  the  people  of  God  again 
constitutes  the  principal  starting-point  and  source  of 
the  Messianic  prophecy  of  this  time.  Does  not  this 
arrest  or  even  retrogression  in  the  development  of  the 
prophecy,  that  grew  from  the  idea  of  the  theocratic 
kingship,  hang  together  with  the  fact  that  the  power 
and  influence  of  the  kingship  continued  visibly  to 
decline  ?  The  fortune  and  position  of  the  theocracy 
were  no  longer  dependent  to  the  same  extent  as  in 
the  Assyrian  period  upon  the  king.  Even  a  godly 
king  like  Josiah  could  at  most  postpone  only  for  a 

1  Jer.  30.  21. 

2  Cp.  Jer.  17.  25,  22.  4,  33.  17.  21  f.  26,  Ezek.  17.  22  If.,  45.  8,  46. 
16  ff. 


190    TIlc  Historical  Cha meter  of  Messianie  Projoheey : 

while — he  could  not  avert — the  ruin  that  threatened 
the  state.^  The  last  kings  did,  indeed,  their  Lest  to 
destroy  the  theocracy,  and  to  hasten  the  ruin  of  the 
state.  But  the  kingdom  was  already  practically  at  the 
disposal  of  the  powers  that  were  contending  for  the 
world-supremacy.  P>en  the  kings  themselves  were,  in 
part,  raised  to  the  throne  by  these  powers,  Jehoiachim 
by  Pharaoh  Necho,  Zedekiah  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  of 
whom  the  former  brought  to  a  rapid  close  the  reign  of 
Jehoahaz,  the  latter  that  of  Jehoiachin.  Those  who 
had  the  interests  of  the  theocracy  at  heart  could  no 
longer  regard  a  kingship  that  lay  at  the  disposal  of 
the  governors  of  heathen  empires  as  the  main  pillar 
of  support  for  the  building  of  the  theocracy.  Least  of 
all,  when  the  king  showed  himself,  like  Zedekiah, 
powerless  and  irresolute  in  presence  even  of  his  own 
magnates.  Tlie  Book  of  Jeremiah  reveals  distinctly 
how  greatly  this  king  feared  to  rouse  the  great  men  of 
the  kingdom  against  himself  by  following  his  better 
impulses.-'  The  circumstance  that,  owing  to  the 
historical  situation,  the  kingship  was  no  longer  the 
factor  that  determined  the  course  of  the  history,  is  the 
reason  why  the  Messianic  prophecy  of  this  period  no 
longer  places  in  the  forefront  the  perfecting  of  the 
kingship  in  the  person  of  the  Messias  as  the  principal 
condition  of  the  perfected  theocracy,  but  represents 
rather — in  so  far  as  the  JMessias  is  mentioned  at  all — 
"  the  kingship  of  the  Davidic  house,  glorified  by  Divine 

'  Cp.  2  Kings  •22.  If.  fl.  2-3.  26  f.,  Jer.  15.  4. 
-Cp.  c.'j.  Jer.  37.  17,  38.  H  ff. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  191 

graces   and  gifts,  only  as   an   appendix    to  the  other 
blessings     which    fall     to    the    lot    of    the    favoured 

people."  ^  . 

In  the  time  of  the  Exile  the  hopes  and  prospects  of 
salvation  free  themselves  entirely  from  connexion  with 
the  Davidic  kingship.  In  Isa.  40-66, — that  "gospel 
before  the  gospel," — in  which  the  Messianic  prophecy 
of  the  Old  Testament  reaches  what  is,  in  many  respects, 
the  height  of  its  development,  there  is  no  mention 
anyivhere  of  the  future  Messianic  king.  Not  even  in 
Isa.  55.  3—5,  where,  on  the  contrary,  the  "  sure  mercies 
of  David  "  are  rather  expressly  assigned  to  the  people.- 
— At  this  time,  when  the  theocratic  state  had  collapsed 
and  the  ritual  of  sacrifice  had  ceased,  neither  the 
kingship  nor  the  priesthood,  but  only  genuine  prophecy,  y 
could  be  the  centre  of  Israel's  national  and  religious 
life,  or  be  regarded  as  the  vital  factor  insuring  the 
continuance  and  regeneration  of  the  Kingdom  of  Godr 
To  it  the  eyes  of  all  who  waited  for  the  promised 
salvation  necessarily  turned,  when  they  sought  a  God- 
given  pledge  of  their  hope.  Prophecy  was  not, 
however,  a  secure  and  stable  institution.  The  erift 
and  office  of  prophecy  were  attached  only  to  the 
persons  of  those  whom  Jehovah  had  called,  and  not 
even  several  isolated  historical  personages — much  less 
one — could  be  regarded  as  the  bearers  of  the  Messianic 
salvation.      Their    position    in    the    theocracy    rested, 

^  Cp.  Bertheau  in  loc.  cit.  vol.  iv.  p.  684. 
f    "  Cp.  in  loco,  on  the  one  hand,  2  Sam.  7.  8  ff.,  Ps.   18.   43  ff.  50  ; 
and,  on  the  other,  Isa.  43.  10,  44.  8. 


102    TJir  HiMorieal  Characto-  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

however,  on  the  fact,  that  as  tlie  chief  representatives 
of  the  idea  of  the  people  of  God  they  were  before 
others  possessed  and  ilkimined  by  the  Spirit  of  God  : 
and  the  gift  of  the  Spirit  was  promised  to  the  whole 
community.  -Hence  all  the  Messianic  prospects  begin 
now  to  connect  themselves  with  the  idea  of  the  people 
of  God,  in  such  a  way,  however,  that  the  latter  come 
to  be  regarded  as  an  organ  of  Jehovah,  entrusted  with 
a  prophetic  calling  to  humanity.  -  The  part  of  the 
]\Iessianic  king,  endowed  with  tlie  fuhiess  of  God-given 
might  and  sovereign  power,  and  triumphing  victoriously 
over  all  enemies,  is  assumed  by  the  people,  the 
servant  of  Jehovah,  who  fulfils  amid  shame  and 
persecution  his  prophetic  witness-vocation  with  im- 
movable faithfulness,  with  enduring  patience,  and  with 
strong  faith  and  hope,  and  goes  through  suffering  to 
glory.  He  it  is  who  is  now  the  central  figure  of  the 
picture  of  the  perfect  time.  He  is  the  organ  through 
whom  God  reiirects  in  glorified  form  His  Kingdom 
upon  earth,  and  brings  to  pass  His  saving  purpose 
concerning  entire  humanity.' 

So  soon,  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  theocratic  state 
is  externally  re.^ored,  and,  in  the  person  of  Zerubbabel, 
a  prince  of  the  house  of  David  stands  at  its  head 
as  one  of   its  principal    supports,  we  find  that   with 

'  It  will  not  appear  .siujuisiiifj  that  the  Messianic  king  finds  noplace 
in  the  picture  of  the  perfect  time  sketched  by  Deutero-Isaiah,  if  it  is 
remembered  that  the  omission  implies  only  a  reassuraption  on  the 
part  of  prophecy,  in  more  complicated  form,  of  the  ancient  Mosaic  and 
more  ideal  conception,  which  represents  Jehovah's  lule  over  the  entire 
]ieople  as  immediate  (cp.  pp.  103  f. ). 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  193 

Haggai^  and  Zechariah^  the  prophecy  of  the  Messianic 
king  immediately  revives,  and  receives,  in  fact,  a  new 
shape  from  the  hand  of  the  latter  prophet  after  a  manner 
peculiarly  his  own,  to  which  we  shall  recur  further  on. 
With  Malachi,  on  the  contrary,  in  whose  time  there 
was  no  longer  a  Davidic  prince,  it  again  disappears, 
in  order  finally — not  as  a  natural  product  of  the  times, 
hut  only  as  the  result  of  an  acqicaintance  with  prophetic 
writings  that  have  come  to  lie  regarded  as  Holy  Scriptures 
— to  flash  forth  once  again  in  the  Book  of  Daniel, 
and  shed  yet  another  clear  light  upon  the  superhuman' 
character  of  the  person  of  the  Messias.      For,  when 
there  had  been  for  long  no  native  kingship,  and  the 
house  of  David  was  sunk  in  obscurity,  when,  never- 
theless,   ancient   prophecy   had    left    the    expectation 
of  a  Messianic  king  indelibly  rooted  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  this  book  announces  the  Messias  no  longer 
definitely  as  an  offspring  of  the  family  of  David,  but 
characterises  him  as  a  person  in  human  form,  who  indeed 
belongs  as  their  royal  head  to  the  saints  of  the  Most 
High,  but  whose  descent  remains  concealed  in  the  dark- 
ness of  mystery,  while  his  superhuman  character  mani- 
fests itself  in  the  fact  that,  like  Jehovah  Himself,  the 
Son  of  man  comes  on  the  clouds  of  heaven,  to  be  invested 
by  God  with  the  eternal  Kingship  over  a  Theocracy 
reared  upon  the  ruins  of  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world."' 

^  Hag.  2.  21  ff., — a  passage  which,  according  to  the  analogy  of  Gen. 
12.  3,  cp.  with  Gen.  18.  18,  22.  18,  is  to  be  understood,  not  merely  of 
the  person  of  Zerubbabel,  but  of  him  and  his  family. 

-  Zech.  3.  8  ff.,  6.  9  S. 

^  Dan.  7.  13  f.     It  is  notoriou'sly  ,i  matter  of  dispute  whether  the 


194   TJic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Propliecy  : 

Thus  far  our  glance  at  the  course  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  prophecy  of  the  JMessianic  king  has 
confirmed    the    propositions    we    laid    down.       They 

figure  resembling  a  son  of  man  is,  in  the  prophet's  intention,  the 
Messias,  or  wliether — as  particularly  Hitzig  in  loco,  and  Hofmanx, 
Wemarjung  tmd  Erfulhuuj,  i.  pp.  209  f.  ;  Schri/tbeweis  (1st  ed.)  ii- 
2,  pp.  r>41  f.,  assume — the  prophet  means  merely  to  give  a  symbolical 
representation  of  "the  people  of  the  saints  of  tiic  Most  High."  The 
latter  view  seems  able  to  support  itself  upon  the  author's  own  testimony 
in  vv.  18,  22,  and  27  ;  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  the  t'bhar  'inCiuli 
(like  a  son  of  man)  corresponds  with  the  1^'aryth  (like  a  lion),  ver.  4,  and 
the  L-inemar  (like  a  leopard),  ver.  6,  in  such  a  way  as  to  oppose  the 
7«a7i-forms  to  the  brute-hrms,  representing  the  world-monarchies, 
— a  circumstance  which  makes  it  natural  to  regard  the  former,  not 
as  a  personal  individual,  but  as  a  typico-visionary  representation 
of  another  kind  of  dominion.  If  this  view  were  correct,  we  should 
have  to  concede  that  with  Daniel  also,  as  with  Malachi,  the  form  of 
the  Messianic  king  recedes  into  dimness,  and  hence  that  a  character 
entirely  in  keeping  with  the  circumstances  of  the  times  belongs  to  his 
prophecy. — We  consider,  however,  the  old  and  prevalent  interpretation 
of  the  passage  to  be  the  right  one — that,  viz.,  which  is  presupposed  in 
the  liook  of  Enoch  (46.  1,  48.  2  ff.,  62.  5.  7,  69.  27.  29)  and  in  the 
Fourth  Book  of  Ezra  (13.  1  IT.  12.  32  ff.),  and  which  refers  the  passage 
to  the  Messias.  Besides  the  merely  typical  figures,  the  vision  represents 
also  ])ersons,  who  appear  without  figurative  veil ;  this  is  true  specially 
of  the  heavenly  judgment-scene,  in  which  the  description — apart  from 
the  reference  to  the  beasts  in  vv.  11  and  12  —  loses  its  figurative- 
allegorical  character.  This  of  itself  makes  it  proliable  that  he  who 
a])poars  in  human  form  before  God  is  no  mere  typical  figure,  but  a  real 
personality.  And  it  is  confirmed  by  the  fact — to  wliich  Auberlex 
has  already  directed  attention  {De7-  Prophet  Daniel  iind  die  OffenharujKj 
Johamm,  2nd  ed.  pp.  51  f.) — that  ver.  21  makes  it  necessary  to  dis- 
tinguish the  saints  of  the  Most  High  from  the  Son  of  man.  It  would 
be,  to  say  the  least,  a  striking  incongruity  if  it  were  there  (in  ver.  21) 
])resupposed  that  the  saints  were  to  be  seen  in  the  vision  before  the 
juilgnient-scene  as  the  object  of  persecution  from  the  little  horn,  and 
yet  were  to  be  regarded  also  as  represented  in  the  typical  figure  of  the 
Son  of  man,  whose  appearance  has  already  been  represented  with  the 
greatest  emphasis  in  ver.  13  as  aiitoundbigly  new,  and  as  taking  place  in 
tlie  course  of  the  judgment-scene  and  after  the  accomplishment  of  the 
judgment  upon  the  beasts.  Add  to  this,  that  it  could  hardly  be  said 
of  the  holy  people  that  they  came  "with  [i.e.  upon^  the  clouds  of 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  195 

receive,  however,  a  much  more  obvious  confirmation, 
if  we  remark  the  time  and  historical  circumstances  in 
which   the    idea   of  the  priesthood   comes   to  have   a 

heaven."  The  circumstauue  that  God's  judgment-seat  is  in  heaven 
cannot  justify  this  expression  {contra  Kamphausen  in  Bunsen's 
Bibelwerk) ;  it  -would  supply  at  best  only  a  reason  for  representing  the 
Son  of  man  as  elevated  to  heaven;  moreover,  the  scene  of  the  judgment 
is,  to  all  appearance,  not  heaven  but  eartli,  to  which  the  Ancient  of 
days  (ver.  22)  and  the  Son  of  man  descend.  A  more  feasible  argument 
would  be  that  implied  in  Hitzig's  reference  to  Dan.  8.  10,  according  to 
which  the  nation  of  saints  (ver.  24)  are  to  the  seer  of  the  vision  the  host 
of  the  stars  in  tlie  heavens.  But  even  thus  the  peculiar  loftiness  of 
the  expression,  which  is  used  elsewhere  only  of  God  (Isa.  19.  1,  Ps.  104. 
3),  does  not  seem  sufficiently  justified.  It  must  be  allowed  to  be 
designed  to  express  that  sui)erhunian,  Divine  character  of  the  appear- 
ing one,  which  would  not  certainly  be  inferred  from  the  l-«  in  hhliar 
'ciulsh  (vid.  supra).  But  this  can  be  only  the  Messianic  king,  who 
stands  at  the  head  of  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  the  representative 
and  organ  beside  and  under  the  Prince  of  the  host  of  heaven  (8.  11), 
and  who,  according  to  the  but  slightly  younger  Thiid  Book  of  the 
Sibyllines,  vv.  286  f.  (wliere  the  reference,  as  Hilgenfeld,  Jiid. 
Apohali/pfil;  pp.  81  If.,  has  rightly  contended,  is  not  to  Cyrus),  is  sent 
by  God  onranuthen  (from  heaven),  and  according  to  vv.  286  ff'. 
ap'  eel'ioio  (from  the  sun) — i^uite  improjierly  rendered  by  some  "from 
the  East."  In  him  the  Messianic  kingdom  comes  from  above,  from 
the  God  of  heaven,  and  is  destined  to  embrace  the  whole  earth  (Dan. 
2.  34  ff.  44  f.),  and  through  him  as  their  head  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High  also  receive  kingdom  and  dominion  (7.  18.  22.  27).  That 
tlie  Messias  should  be  conceived  as  in  heaven  and  coming  tlience, 
would  be  most  easily  explained  if,  as  Oehler  (art.  "Messias"  in 
Herzog's  Reahncyd.  p.  417  ;  Theol.  des  Alt.  Test.  ii.  pp.  144  and  265) 
and  HiLGENFELii  (in  loc.  dt.  pp.  47  ff.)  think,  it  could  be  proved 
that  in  the  Book  of  Daniel— esp.  10.  5  flF.— the  conceptions  of  the 
angel  of  Jehovah  and  of  the  Messias  are  combined.  Proof,  however, 
fails  ;  even  the  kidh<'muth  b'^ne  'ddhum  (like  the  image  of  the  sons  of 
men)  and  l-emar'eh  'ddhum  (like  the  appearance  of  a  man)  in  the 
description  of  the  augel  is  no  proper  parallel  to  the  kelhar  'endxh  of  7. 
13.  Its  true  parallel  is  tlie  expression  d'^muth  hmar'eJt  'dd/u'nn  used 
by  Ezekiel  (1.  26)  in  the  description  of  the  theopliany.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  former  of  the  two  supposed  parallels  to  remintl  us  of 
the  Son  of  man.  Besides,  if  he  were  conceived  as  an  angelic  personality, 
vv.    18,   22,   and   27   of   chap.    7   could   hardly  take  his  fellowship 


196    The  Historiml  Character  of  Messia.nic  Prophecy: 

greater  importance  for  Messianic  prophecy.  Through- 
out the  entire  pre-Exilian  period  the  priest,  it  is  true, 
receives  mention  now  and  then  in  tlie  delineation  of 
the  theocracy  of  the  perfect  time/  but  never,  not  even 
in  EZEKIEL,  is  any  cooperation  in  the  accomplishment 

(Zugehorigkeil)  witli  the  saints  of  the  ilost  Hifjh  ho  coin](letely  for 
•granted.  As  little  feasible  is  the  suggestion  of  Hitzig,  that  the  basis 
of  this  conception  of  the  Son  of  man  lies  in  the  more  developed  belief 
in  immortality,  and  that  he  is  to  be  identified  with  David,  leading  a 
lieavenly  life  after  death.  Without  uiijustiliable  dogmatising,  however, 
neither  the  Divinity  of  the  Messias  nor  yet  the  conception  of  an 
finihropos  epourdnio-s  (heavenly  man)  (Beyschlao,  Die  Christologie 
ties  Netien  Testavientes,  p.  13),  who  has  preexisted  as  a  supra- 
terrestrial  being,  can  be  extracted  from  the  passage.  The  prophet 
gives  no  indication  as  to  the  origin  of  the  Son  of  man  ;  lie  presupposes 
only  his  fellowship  (Ziirjehoruikeit)  with  the  saints  of  the  Most  High. 
The  basis  of  the  conception  tliat  lie  is  in  heaven  and  conies  thence  is 
no  relation  to  God  or  men  founded  upon  his  origin  or  nature  —  in 
short,  no  metaphysical  7V(eofof/o«?He?to«  whatsoever.  It  is  simply  the 
appropriateness  of  the  description  itself,  in  view  of  the  position  in  the 
theocracy  assigned  to  the  Messias  in  the  eternal  counsel  of  God  ;  in  other 
words,  it  is  the  idea  of  the  theocratic  or  (as  in  some  cases)  Jlessianic  king- 
ship handed  down  from  the  elder  prophecy;  he  is  conceived  as  being  in 
heaven  and  coming  thence  onhj  hertiuse  he  is  the  representative  and 
organ  of  the  God  of  heaven,  and  to  him,  as  such,  the  superhuman 
character  and  the  Divine  position  and  dignity — lent,  as  it  were,  by 
God — are  really  appropriate,  which  according  to  Isa.  14.  14  the  insolent 
king  of  Babylon  would  fain  claim  for  himself.  Be  it  finally  remarked 
that  we  do  not  consider  the  main  argument  for  the  view  we  have 
lojected — extracted  as  it  is  from  7.  18.  21.  27 — as  decisive,  for  fhit 
among  other  reasons,  because  vv.  13  f. — in  so  far  as  here  the  text  loses 
its  figurative-allegorical  character — did  not,  like  the  pi(!tuies  of  the 
beasts,  the  ten  horns,  and  the  little  horn,  require  special  explanation 
(at  least  in  the  same  way),  whereas  iirominenee  had  necessarily  to  be 
given  to  the  fact  that  the  saints  of  God,  who  had  been  for  a  time  in 
the  power  of  the  tyrant  Antiochus,  would  finally  reign  over  all  the 
kingdoms  of  the  world.  How  a  view  whicli  requires  us  to  suppose  the 
reappearance  of  the  picture  of  the  Messias  in  a  kingless  time  can  be 
reconciled  with  the  nature  of  proiihecy,  is  shown  above. 
'  E.g.  Jer.  31.  14,  33.  18  ff. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  197 

of  the  Divine  purpose  of  salvation  assigned  to  the 
priesthood.  The  reason  of  this  lies  in  the  fact  that 
the  priesthood — assigned  from  the  hrst  the  duty  of 
conserving  religious  custom,  and  the  legally  ordained 
constitution  of  the  national  worship — did  not  during 
the  time  of  the  kings  exercise  any  very  marked 
influence  upon  the  historical  course  of  the  theocracy. 
Even  the  exception  we  may  make  in  favour  of  the 
influence  for  a  short  time  exercised  by  the  high 
priests  Jehoiada  ^  and  Hilkiah  -  must  be  qualified  by  ^ 
the  remembrance  that  the  interference  of  these  men 
in  the  fortunes  of  the  kingdom  was  due,  not  so  much 
to  their  official  dignity,  as  to  their  personal  energy, — 
albeit  the  latter  was  seconded  by  the  former. — When, 
further,  the  Messianic  prophecy  of  the  time  of  the 
Exile  represents  the  people  of  God,  on  the  attainment 
of  their  destined  goal,  as  a  priestly  people  mediating 
between  God  and  the  rest  of  humanity,^  the  starting- 
point  of  this  announcement  is,  without  doubt,  sub- 
stantially the  idea  of  Jehovah's  peculiar  people,  as  in 
Ex.  19.  6,  and  not  the  idea  of  the  special  Levitical 
priesthood.  Still,  the  priests  (specially  the  high  priest), 
as  the  pure  sanctified  mediatorial  representatives  before 
Jehovah  of  the  congregation  entrusted  with  the  office 
of  expiation,  were  tujjoi  ton  melldnton  (types  of  things 
to  come).  In  the  priesthood  also  there  lay  a  germ  of 
Messianic  truth,  capable  of  being  developed.  This 
germ  actually  was  developed  in  the  time  immediately  ^ 
succeeding  the  return  from  the  Exile.  The  rebuilding  of 
1  2  Kings,  chaps.  11  and  12.      -  2  Kings  22.      '■>  Isa.  61.  6,  66.  21. 


198    The  Jlifitorical  (Jh<i racier  of  }frssinnic  Propliecj/: 

the  temple  and  the  restoration  of  tlie  temple  worship 
formed  at  this  time  the  centre  of  all  national  and 
theocratic  interests  and  elforts.  On  these  objects, 
according  to  prophecy,  the  concern  of  God  Himself  for 
His  people  was  now  concentrated.  By  guaranteeing 
the  completion  of  the  building  of  the  temple,  Jehovah 
guaranteed  also  the  continuance  and  the  future  per- 
fection of  the  theocracy.  At  such  a  time  the  priest- 
hood had   a   much  greater  importance  than  formerly 

*'for  the  future  of  the  theocracy.  But,  in  particular, 
the  high  priest  Joshua  occupies  a  position  of  in- 
dependent importance  side  by  side  with  the  Davidic 

f  Zerubbabel,  such  as  high  priest  never  before  enjoyed 
in  relation  to  the  king;  and  both  work  in  harmonious 
zeal,  encouraged  by  prophetic  promises,  at  the  building 
of  the  dwelling-place  of  God  and  the  restitution  of  the 
theocracy.  These  historical  circumstances  are  reflected 
in   Messianic   prophecy.      The    priests,   whose   official 

character  is  purity  and  holiness,  and  who,  in  virtue  of 
their  ofhce,  may  draw  near  to  Jehovah,  now  become 

y  the  pretypes  of  the  congregation  of  tlie  perfect  time, 
who  are  purified  from  their  sins,  are  holy,  and  have 
]iriestly  access  to  Jehovah ;  and,  in  particular,  the  high 

-  priest  becomes  a  type  of  the  Messias  who  stands  at 
the  head  of  this  community.^  The  Messias  is  thus 
definitely  conceived  as  a  priest-king,  not,  of  course, 
because  he  is  to  offer  sacrifices  and  expiate  the  people's 
guilt,  but  only  because  he  is,  in  a  special  degree,  a 
sanctified  person,  and,  as  belonging  to  God,  is  entitled 

1  Zech.  3.  8fr..  6.  11  tJ'. 


Its  Adaptation  to  tlic  Times.  199 

to  immediate  priestly  access  to  Him,  and  because  he  , 
is  the  head  and  representative  of  a  holy,  priestly  \ 
people,  purified  from  sin  and  guilt.  It  is  with  refer- 
ence to  precisely  this  function  that  the  high  priest 
Joshua,  and  not  the  Davidic  Zerubbabel,  is  made  the 
type  of  the  Messias.  But  there  is  yet  another  reason 
for  the  preference. — The  prophet  Zechariah  does  not, 
as  is  usually  supposed,  mean  to  announce  that  the 
i\Iessias  will  unite  in  his  person  the  kingly  and  the 
high  priestly  office.  Eather  he  shows  us  the  Messianic 
high  2J'>'icst  alongside  of  the  Messianic  king  in  the 
perfected  Kingdom,  the  former  sitting  beside  the 
latter  on  the  royal  throne,  and  both  working  together — 
as  at  that  time  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua  actually  did — 
in  harmonious  cooperation  for  the  weal  of  the  people 
of  God  and  in  the  interest  of  the  theocracy.  The 
prophet,  indeed,  represents  the  rule  of  the  Messianic 
kingdom  as  emphatically  a  unity,  and  as  a  government 
by  king  and  high  priest ;  but  this  unity  is  not  effected 
by  the  union  of  both  offices  in  one  person,  but  by  the 
Cilevation  of  the  high  priest  to  the  throne  of  the  Messias, 
and  by  the  perfect  oneness  of  mind  and  spirit,  in  which 
the  Messianic  king  and  the  Messianic  high  priest  con-^r" 
duct  their  common  government.^  And  it  is  precisely 
this  relationship  of  close  alliance  and  community  in  rule, 

1  Zech.  6.  13.  Against  the  prevalent  interpretation — again  defended 
even  by  Kohler  {Die  nachexilischen  Propheten),  Keii,,  Pkessel,  KtJPER 
(in  loc.  cit.  pp.  414  f.)  von  Orelli  (in /oc.  cit.  pp.  499  ti'.), — of  the  words 
w^hdydh  khohen  'al-kis'6:  "and  he  (the  Messias)  shall  be  a  priest  on 
his  throne,"  the  concluding  words,  "and  the  counsel  of  peace  (i.e. 
harmonious  cooperation)  shall  be  between  them  both,"  are  decisive. 
For  the  sense  of  this  clause  cannot  be  :  "The  Messias,  iu  whom  king 


200    TJic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Pr(yphecy : 

ill  wliicli  the  high  priesthood  will  stand  to  the  king- 
ship, that  is  meant  to  be  indicated  in  the  fact  that 
Joshua,  and  not  Zerubbabel,  is  made  the  type  of  the 
Messias. — Even  in  the  prophecy  of  Malachi  it  is 
clear  that  the  priesthood  still  occupies  a  comparatively 
important  position  in  the  circle  of  Messianic  expecta- 
tions.    In  the  censures  of  this  prophet  special  atten- 

and  priest  have  become  one,  shall  conceive  and  accomplish  a  scheme 
of  helping  tha  people  of  God  to  peace,"  which  is  contrary  to  the  plain 
sense  of  ben-sh^nehi'm  (between  them  iu-o).  The  concluding  sentence 
speaks  distinctly  of  two  persons,  and  therefore  the  disputed  words — in 
spite  of  the  surprising  ivekdydh,  instead  of  the  more-to-be-expected 
w''ydsltabh,  which,  however,  had  preceded,  and  therefore  was  hardly 
available — can  only,  with  Ewald,  Hitzig,  Bektheau,  and  Stakelin, 
be  translated:  "And  a  priest  shall  be  on  his  throne."  But  the 
suffix  in  kis'o  is  usually  referred  to  hohen.  In  that  case  the  objections 
against  this  translation  are  fully  justified.  It  is  not  characteristic  of 
the  priest  that  he  should  sit  upon  a  throne,  rather  tliat  he  should 
stand  before  Jehovah  (Deut.  17.  12,  Judg.  20.  28), — an  argument  that 
is,  of  course,  not  weakened  by  a  reference  to  1  Sam.  4.  13.  18.  And 
the  announcement  that  in  the  Messianic  time  there  should  also  be  a 
priest,  would  be  almost  inept.  Precisely  as  in  the  preceding  'al-hiijC> 
the  sutfix  is  to  be  referred  to  the  Messias  (cp.  Ex.  11.  5,  12.  29,  where 
the  sufiix  is  probably  best  referred  to  Par'oh,  and  the  at  least  analogous 
oases  Jer.  13.  13,  22.  4),  and  the  sense  is  :  A  priest  shall  sit  beside  the 
Messias  on  his  (the  Messias')  throne  (cp.  on  the  implied  situation,  Ps. 
110.  1,  Rev.  3.  21,  and  the  art.  "Thron"  in  my  BibelwOrterbuch,  p. 
16606).  The  sense  is  rightly  given  in  the  LXX. :  kai  e.stai  hiereiis  ek 
dexidn  antoil  (and  a  priest  shall  be  on  his  right  hand)  (in  accordance 
with  which  Stade,  Zeitsch.  fur  die  alttest.  Wissensch.  1881,  p.  10,  note, 
too  hastily  wishes  to  substitute  on  his  right  hand  for  on  his  tJirone,  in 
the  Hebrew  text). — We  may  refer,  further,  to  the  fact  that  the  juxta- 
position of  a  Jlessianic  king  and  a  Messianic  priest  agrees  with  the 
vision  of  Zech.  4,  where  the  kingship  and  the  high  priesthood  (the 
two  olive  trees),  or,  otherwise,  their  bearers  (the  two  branches  of  the 
olive,  cp.  ver.  14),  are  the  organs  which  conduct  to  the  organism  of  the 
theocracy  the  Spirit  of  Jehovah  (the  oil)  by  which  it  is  nourished  and 
preserved.  The  violent  emendations  of  Ewald,  Hitzig,  and  others  in 
vv.  11  and  12  we  consider  superfluous.  My  conception  of  the  passage 
is  supported  by  H.  Scuultz  iu  loc.  cit.  p.  257  (2ud  ed.  pp.  744  f.). 


Its  Adai^tation  to  the  Times.  201 

tiou  is  paid  to  the  priesthood,  sacrifice,  tlie  tithes, 
etc. ;  and  the  main  purpose  alleged  for  the  judicial 
coming  of  Jehovali  is  the  purifying  and  renewal  of 
the  Levites,  in  consequence  of  which  the  offerings  of 
the  purged  community,  offered  through  a  purged  priest- 
liood,  will  be  acceptable  to  Jehovah.^ 

There  is  yet  another  Messianic  expectation,  appear- 
ing first  in  the  time  of  the  Exile,  and  taking  shape 
only  after  the  Exile — the  expectation,  viz.,  that  the 
Theocracy  of  the  perfect  time  would  be  erected  by 
Jeliovalis  personal  advent,  and  His  celebration  in  the 
temple,  constitided  noiv  His  eterncd  dtvelling-place,  of  His 
entranee  into  His  own?  That  such  a  prophecy  was 
developed  at  the  date  indicated  has  its  reason  in  the 
fact  that  at  that  time  the  national  and  theocratic 
interest  was  mainly  directed  to  the  scheme  of  rebuild- 
ing the  temple,  and  making  it  what  it  had  been  in 
former  times.  Even  Ezekiel  had  prophesied  of  the 
coming  again  of  the  glory  of  Jehovah  into  the  new 
temple.^  The  "  Great  Unknown  "  had  announced  the 
near  advent  of  the  God  of  Israel.*  But  Haggai  and 
Zeciiariah  were  the  first  to  give  the  building  and 
glorifying  of  the  temple  such  a  central  position  among 
the  prospects  of  salvation  as  to  set  even  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen  in  teleological  relation  to  that  event,-'^ 
and  to  make  the  building  of  the  temple  the  principal 
business  of  the   Messias,^  seeing  that,  with  the  dawn 

1  Mai.  3.  3  f.  2  See  Appendix  A,  Note  VIL 

3  Ezek.  43.  2  ff.  *  Isa.  40.  9  f.,  52.  8,  60.  1  f.  19  f. 

s  Hag.  2.  7  ff.,  Zech.  6.  15.  «  Zecli.  6.  13,  also  3.  9,  4.  7.  10. 


^ 


202    The  Historical  C/iaradcr  of  Mes^sianic  Prophecy: 

of  the  perfect  time,  Jehovah  will  arise  from  His  holy 
dwelling-place  to  make  His  abode  for  ever  in  the 
midst  of  Jerusalem.^  With  Malachi,  however,  this 
coming  to  His  temple  of  Jehovah,  or  the  angel  of  the 
covenant,  in  whom  He  appears,  and  through  whom,  as 
the  guardian  and  restorer  of  the  covenant  (hence  the 
name).  He  holds  the  assize  that  separates  evil-doers 
from  His  people,  and  takes  to  Himself  His  true 
jjcople,  becomes  the  main  idea  of  Messianic  prophecy .- 
These  references  ought  to  suffice  to  convince  us  that, 
according  to  the  counsel  of  God,  the  course  of  history 
and  the  change  of  historical  circumstances  necessarily 

'  Zech.  2.  10.  11.  13,  8.  3. 

*  Mai.  3.  1-9.  16  ff".  The  ina/'akh  habhcritJi  ^angel  of  tlie  covenant) 
is  not  identical  with  the  previously  mentioned  messenger  who  goes 
before  Jehovah,  and  is  therefore  not  Elias  {contra  Ewald  and  Hitzig), 
for  this  view  is  contradicted  by  tlie  mutual  relations  of  the  clauses  of 
the  verse,  and  particularly  by  the  perfect  parallelism  of  the  two  relative 
clauses,  and  their  symmetrical  reference  to  Mai.  2.  17.  From  both  it  is 
clear  that  the  appearance  of  the  angel  of  the  covenant  is  simultaneous 
with  the  coming  of  the  Lord  to  His  temple,  while  the  messenger  of 
Jehovah  (Elias)  precedes  both,  iloreover,  the  nir'dh  (appearing)  of 
Mai.  3.  2  is  not  an  appropriate  phrase  to  applj' to  a  merely  human  agent, 
and  the  judicial  activity  assigned  to  the  angel  of  the  covenant  does  not 
suit  Elias.  But  neither  also  may  we,  with  Hengstenberg,  think  of  the 
Messias,  or,  with  Hofmann,  of  another  Moses.  Rather  is  meant  the  angel 
of  Jehovah,  in  whom  Jehovah  Himself  appears,  for  He  suffers  His  name 
(i.e.  His  manifested  being)  to  dwell  in  him  (cp.  Ex.  23.  20,  1-1.  19,  Xum. 
20.  16,  Isa.  83.  9).  This  angel  is  also,  in  an  essentially  similar  way, 
described  as  the  angel  of  the  covenant  (Ex.  23..20ti").  Since  the  fore- 
going remarks  were  published,  and,  as  it  would  appear,  independently 
of  them,  the  correct  view  has  been  acknowledged  by  Kohleu,  Pressel, 
Keil,  Ki)i'ER  (in  loc.  cit.  p.  436),  and  von  Orei.m  (in  loc.  cit.  p.  509). 
The  objections  of  Steineu  (4th  ed.  of  HrrzKi's  Kleinen  Propheten)  are 
irrelevant,  for  the  copula  before  maVakh  does  not  prove  his  difference 
from  ha\'tdhOn  (the  Lord)  (cp.  Zech.  9.  9) ;  the  pnrticij)le  ha'  after 
liiiuith  has  equal  force  with  the  Fut.  Impcrf.  ydhho",  and  ver.  3  does  not 
speak  of  a  way-prejiariiig,  but  of  a  sifting  and  purifyingjudicinl  function. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the.  Times.  203 

served  gradually  to  develop  the  various  germs  of  Messi- 
anic truth  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  religion, 
so  as  to  indicate /ro??i  various  points  of  view  the  salva-/ 
tion  which  should  appear  when  the  time  was  fulfilled." 
2.  It  remains  now  to  expound  the  second  point,  in 
which  the  influence  of  contemporary  history  makes 
itself  from  time  to  time  felt  even  in  the  ideal  sub-  ^ 
stance  of  the  Messianic  prophecies.  The  history  of 
the  Old  Testament  covenant  -  people  is  itself  the 
progressive  carrying  out  of  the  plan  devised  by  God 
for  reaching  the  goal  of  His  saving  purposes.  By 
God's  leading  and  government  Israel  must  be  educated 
and  prepared  for  the  fulfilment  of  his  calling  and  the 
reception  of  salvation.  And  the  whole  world-govern- 
ment of  God,  even  in  so  far  as  it  determines  the 
fortunes  of  other  peoples,  has  its  centre  and  goal  in 
the  fulfilment  of  His  decree  regarding  Israel.  In  the 
different  periods  of  the  history  now  one  and  now 
another  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  God's  government 
of  the  world  and  His  Kingdom  comes  prominently 
into  view,  just  as  Israel's  ethico-religious  condition, 
his  external  position,  and  the  general  circumstances 
of  the  nations  may  at  this  time  or  that  determine. 
The  moral  order  of  the  world,  that  presides  over 
history  and  prescribes  its  course,  asserts  itself  in 
relation  to  the  different    directions  and  objects    pur- 

^  It  is  to  the  credit  of  Hofmann  that  in  his  work,  Wei-sscujioxj  uinl 
Erfiilluny,  he  has  been  the  first  to  exhibit  this  connexion  between 
liistory  and  prophecy  from  the  point  of  view  of  a  believer  in  revelation. 
This,  in  .spite  of  the  many  deficiencies — due  mainly  to  his  disowning, 
nn  principle,  all  criticism — of  this  work  in  other  respects. 


204   TJic  Hislorical  Cliciradcr  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

sued  by  human  freedom  in  such  a  way  that  now  one 
•  and  now  another  of  the  eternal  truths  which  it 
embraces  finds  actual  attestation  in  preference  to 
others.  The  course  of  history  is  mainly  determined, 
now  by  this  anon  by  that  other  of  the  eternal  thoughts 
of  God,  whose  sum  constitutes  the  unalterable  pro- 
gramme of  government  which  the  King  of  kings  has 
marked  out  for  Himself.  —  At  new  turning  -  points, 
moreover,  in  the  progress  of  historical  development 
there  generally  emerge  also  to  light,  from  the  darkness 
of  the  hidden  counsel  of  God,  new  moments  of  this 
saving  plan.  If  history  itself  is  the  progressive 
carrying  out  of  the  Divine  programme,  it  must  also 

/tend  more  and  more  to  discover  it.  —  Now,  tlie 
-i- prophet  discerns  the  Divine  teleology  of  the  history  of 
his  time ;  to  his  enlightened  eye  there  is  granted  an 
insight  into  the  reason  and  purposes  of  the  Divine 
action  in  the  present  and  immediate  future.  Those 
thoughts  of  God,  which  take  shape  in  the  history 
of  his  time,  as  well  as  the  new  moments  of  the 
Divine  purpose,  which  begin  to  be  accomplished  in 
it,  emerge  to  his  view  from  the  dark  confusion  of 
daily  events  with  a  clearness  that  dispels  the  dark- 
ness. To  give  heed  to  the  signs  of  the  times,  and 
point  them  out  to  others,  to  be  to  his  contemporaries 

'the  interpreter  of  God's  language  to  His  people  in 
the  facts  of  history, — is,  in  fact,  a  part  of  the  prophet's 
task  that  is  essential  to  his  vocation. — In  view  of  the 
psychologically  mediated  origin  of  Messianic  prophecy, 
we  cannot  but  conclude  that  the  thoughts  of  God,  which 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  205 

mainly  determine  the  course  of  history  in  the  time  of  the 
prophet,  and  with  which,  therefore,  his  mind  is  especially 
occupied,  are  also  the  fundamental  thoughts  luhich  give 
his  Messianie  p)rophecy  its  loeeuliar  content  and  character. 
For  the  same  reason  fresh  combinations  of  historical 
circumstances,  new  "  signs  of  the  time,"  will  yield 
fresh  ideas  for  Messianic  prophecy.  So  often  as,  in  the 
progress  of  history,  preparations  begin  to  he  made  tovjards 
a  new  issue,  there  luill  flash  upon  the  prophet  neiv  gleams 
of  insight  into  the  saving  purpose  of  God,  and  into  the 
ways  and  means  of  its  execution.  Hence  the  parallelism 
already  mentioned  between  history  and  prophecy,  hence 
the  march  together  in  step  of  the  development  of  the 
history  of  the  theocracy  and  the  development  of 
Messianic  prophecy. 

We  shall  attest  and  illustrate  the  truth  of  tliese 
remarks,  as  before,  by  some  examples.  One,  lying 
immediately  to  hand,  is  the  prophecy  of  the  entrance 
of  the  heathen  hito  the  Kingdom  of  God.  The  univers- 
alistic  tendency,  inherent  in  the  Old  Testament  religion, 
was,  in  the  early  days  of  the  latter,  restrained  by  the 
wholly  national  constitution  of  the  theocracy,  and  the 
relation  of  sharp  contrast  in  which  at  first  Israel 
necessarily  stood  to  other  nations.  As  yet  Israel 
altogether  resembled  an  arrow  hid  in  the  quiver  for 
future  use  (Isa.  49.  2).  Even  the  Messianic  prophecy 
of  the  oldest  prophets  is  essentially  particularistic. 
With  Joel  the  scene  of  the  Kingdom,  perfected  on 
earth,  is  still  the  small  country  of  Judah  ;  there  is  not  a 
single  reference  to  the  kingdom  of  the  Ten  Tribes  ;  there 


206    Tlir  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

is  not  the  slightest  word  of  any  participation  by  the 
heathen  in  tlie  ^lessianic  salvation.  They  are  noticed 
only  in  so  far  as  they  stand  in  hostile  opposition  to  the 
theocracy,  and  are  therefore  victims  of  the  avenging 
judgment.  lUit  even  this  judgment  strikes  only  the 
neighbouring  peoples,  including  Egypt ;  the  distant 
"  men  of  Sheba "  it  leaves  untouched.^  With  Amos 
the  Theocracy  of  the  perfect  time  extends  not  only 
over  the  whole  of  Palestine,  but  also  over  the  neigh- 
.^bouring  countries,  in  so  far  as  they  had  once  been 
subjected  by  David.'  But  with  Amos  also,  Judah 
with  the  house  of  David  at  its  head  is  the  recipient 
(tf  the  Messianic  salvation  ;  through  their  connexion 
with  Judah,  the  Ephraimites  also  participate;  not  so 
on  the  other  hand,  the  neighbouring  heathen  peoples, 
who  can  recognise  only  the  siiprcmacy  of  the  people  of 
God  and  of  the  house  of  David. — Hosea  also  places 
the  Messianic  salvation  within  the  prospect  of  Israel 
alone.     In  Zech.    9.    9   f.  we   meet,  indeed,  with   an 

n extension  of  the  JNIessianic  outlook  beyond  the  confines 
of  Israel ;  the  King  of  i^acc  exercises  his  blissful  sway, 
over  other  peoples  besides  Israel,  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth.  But  it  is  noticeable  that  it  is  only  here  that 
for  the  Jirst  time  the  universalistic  moment,  contained 
"^in  the  idea  of  the  theocratic  kinr/shij},  comes  to  view 
(p.  116).  The  first  prophecy,  preserved  to  us,  properly 
relating   to    the    entrance    of    the   Gentiles    into    the 

'  .loel  3.  8. 

-  Hence  Edom  is  not,  as  witli  Joki,,  iiiadu  a  desert,  but  only  .subject 
to  the  people  of  God. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  207 

Kingdom,  lies  before  us  in  those  famous  words, 
delivered  by  Isaiah  and  Micah,  which  show  us  the 
mountain  of  the  house  of  Jehovah,  towering  above  \ 
all  other  mountains,  as  the  centre  of  the  earth,  ( 
whither  all  peoples  go  up,  yearning  for  salvation, 
to  be  instructed  in  His  ways  by  the  God  of  Jacob, 
and  to  walk  in  His  paths/  At  the  basis  of  this 
prophecy  there  lies  the  clear  perception  that  in  the 
counsel  of  God  His  revelation  among  His  people  Israel 
is  destined  for  all  humanity. — It  is  some  older  prophet, 
unknown  to  us,'  who  has  been  the  first,  in  such  words, 
to  claim  the  whole  earth  for  the  Kingdom  of  his  God, 
and  to  announce  to  all  peoples  the  message  of  salva- 
tion. But  lie  can  hardly  belong  to  a  much  earlier 
time.  For  precisely  the  circumstance  that  the  two 
principal  prophets  of  the  Assyrian  period,  Isaiah  and 
Micah,  reproduce  his  words,  proves  how  new  and 
remarkable  such  a  prophecy  still  appeared  in  their 
time,  and  the  older  prophetic  writings,  which  are 
preserved  to  us,  contain,  as  we  have  seen,  no  parallel 
to  it. — But,  apart  from  this  passage,  we  find  that  Isaiah 
and  Micah  repeatedly  express  the  universalistic  idea. 
In  Isa.  19.  18-25,  in  particular,  it  is  developed  in 
detail  in  a  very  peculiar  manner.  For  here  the 
prophet  expressly  shows  us  the  theocracy  of  the  last 
time  as  one  embracing  all  the  then  known  world,  a 
universal  Theocracy  blessed  by  Jehovah  in  all  its  three 
parts.     Israel,  the  inheritance — as  it  were,  the  original 

'  Isa.  2.  2-4,  Micah  4.  1-4. 

-  In  no  case  Joel,  as  some  have  thoudit. 


208   The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

land  {Stammland) — of  Jehovali,  making  the  centre,  on 
the  one  side  Kgypt  as  a  land  and  people  that  now  belong 
to  God,  on  the  other  Assyria,  now  also,  as  Israel,  the 
work  of  His  hands,  neither  of  them  any  longer  in 
conflict  for  the  world  supremacy,  but  both  serving 
Jehovah,  and  enjoying  peaceful  mutual  intercourse. — 
Tlie  case  stands  obviously  thus :  So  long  as  Israel 
did  no  more  than  come  in  contact  with  neighbouring 
peoples,  so  long,  i.e.,  as  the  decree  of  God  that  the 
theocracy  founded  in  Israel  should  have  no  merely 
\  national,  Init  a  universal-human  destination,  had  not 
\  as  yet  declared  itself  in  history ;  just  so  long  Messianic 
prophecy  announces  nothing  of  the  future  extension  of 
the  theocracy  over  all  peoples.  Only  ivhen,  through 
Y'^'^.  the  successful  efforts  of  the  Assyrians  to  found  a  world- 
■^  Jb^  empire,  the  fortunes  of  Israel  and  the  theocracy  legan  to 
cntvjine  themselves  ivith  the  fortunes  of  all  jf^oples  of  the 
world  hioivn  to  Israel,  did  this  Divine  catholicity  of 
aim  become  apparent  in  the  course  of  history  to  the 
enlightened  eye  of  him  who  understood  the  signs  of 
the  times.  Thenceforward  Israel  occupies,  as  it 
were,  a  loftier  position — world-historical,  and  within 
the  horizon  of  all  peoples  far  and  near.  Hence  the 
clear  full  knowledge,  beginning  from  this  time,  that 
God's  deeds  in  and  for  Israel  concern  all  peoples  ;  ^ 
hence  it  is  that  an  Isaiah  begins  to  draw  the  entire 
history  of  the  world  within  the  sphere  of  prophecy  by 
first  concerning  himself  in  detail  with  the  fortunes  of 
foreign    peoples ;    hence  also,  in    short,    the    idea    in 

'  Cp.  r.<j.  Isa.  8.  9,  18.  3.  7,  33.  13. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  209 

Messianic  prophecy  of  the  universality  of  the  perfected  :^ 
Kingdom  of  God.  May  we  not,  perhaps,  go  further  ? 
May  we  not  say  that  just  as  Assyria,  the  instrument 
in  the  hand  of  Jehovah,  was  impelled  to  intervene  in 
the  history  of  Israel,  and  so  minister  unconsciously 
to  the  fulfilment  of  God's  purpose,  she  must  needs 
similarly  have  exercised — and  that  altogether  immedi- 
ately— a  stimulating  effect  upon  the  development  of 
the  knowledge  of  God's  saving  purpose.  For  the  idea 
of  a  world-empire,  a  universal  monarchy  was  grasped 
by  the  Assyrians  earlier  than  by  the  Israelites.  In  the 
claim  laid  by  the  Assyrian  kings  to  a  world-supremacy, 
which,  according  to  their  high  -  flown  insolence  ^  no 
people  and  no  god  would  keep  from  them  or  diminish, 
the  prophets  found  occasion  to  extract  its  legitimate 
consequence  from  the  Old  Testament  idea  of  God — 
viz.  that  this  supremacy  must  belong  much  rather  to  ^ 
the  king  of  Israel.  The  very  fact  that  there  stood 
opposed  to  the  theocracy  this  universal  monarchy  of 
Assyria,  in  part  already  founded,  in  part  only  in  pro- 
spect, elicits  the  conception  and  prospect  of  a  universal 
Theocracy,  taking  the  place  of  all  other  kingdoms,  and 
gathering  all  peoples  into  its  unifying  embrace. 

Henceforward   the   universalistic    idea   remained   a 
moment  of    significant  prominence  in  Messianic  pro- 
phecy ;  it  is  so  with  Zephaniaii,''  with  Habakkuk,^  with    . 
the  author  of  Zech.  12-14,^  with  Jeremiah.^     With  v 

1  Isa.  10.  13  f.,  36.  18  ff.,  37.  11  ff. 
^  Esp.  Zeph.  2.  11,  3.  9. 

•■  Hab.  2.  14.  *  Zech.  14.  0.  16. 

•'  Jer.  3.  17,  4.  2,  12.  \h  ff.,  16.  19  f.,  46.  26,  48.  47,  49.  6.  39. 
U 


210    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy: 

EzEKiEL,  on  the  other  hand,  while  the  universalistic  idea 
AS  not  altogether  absent,  there  is  a  return  of  the  old 
particularism — a  circunistance  that  harmonises  with  his 
Levitico- priestly  standpoint,  already  discussed. — The 
most  significant  advance  in  the  development  of 
prophecy  is,  however,  marked  by  the  oracles — of  the 
time  of  the  Exile — of  the  interest  of  the  heathen  in 
the  Messianic  salvation.  In  the  Book  Isa.  40-66 
this  prophecy  unfolds  the  richest  and  fairest  blossoms. 
When  Israel  was  actually  scattered  among  the  nations, 
^and  godly  Israelites  had  in  their  close  and  constant 
contact  with  the  heathen  a  perpetual  witness  to  the 
vanity  and  contemptible  folly  of  idolatry,  and  were 
made  thus  only  the  more  conscious  of  the  rich  treasure 
entrusted  to  them  in  the  revelation  of  the  only  true 
and  living  God,  and  of  the  victorious  force  of  the 
truth,  not  only  did  the  certainty,  that  at  no  distant 
date  all  the  peoples  would  acknowledge  Jehovah,  and 
tlie  theocracy  be  extended  over  the  whole  earth,  mount 
to  the  highest  pitch  of  confidence ;  but  there  was 
awakened  and  developed  the  consciousness,  that  Israel 
had  been  elected  by  GtO(\.  just  for  this  "purpose,  that  he 
might  be  a  light  to  the  heathen  by  bringing  to  all 
peoples  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.^  Thus,  here 
also  the  new  historical  circumstances  yield  a  new  idea 
to  Messianic  prophecy,  whose  rich  content  has,  of 
course,  been  unfolded  by  none  other  as  by  the  Great 
Unknown ;  for  his  successors,  the  post-Exilian  prophets, 

'  Cp.  my  art.  "  Der  Missionsgcilauke  ini  Alton  Testainciit "  in  I)r. 
Wanieck's  All<j.  Missivux-Zvil'fchnJ'i,  1880,  pp.  402  IV. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  211 

while  they  take  up  the  promise  of  the  future  conversion 
of  the  heathen,  do  not  develop,  as  he  did,  its  broad 
and  deep  significance. 

A  few  further  references  may,  in  conclusion,  be 
adduced  in  proof  of  the  positions  just  laid  down. 
Characteristic  of  the  prophets  of  the  Assyrian  period, 
Isaiah  and  Micah,  is  the  oft-repeated  thought  that 
only  a  remnant  will  turn  to  Jehovah  and  participate 
in  the  Messianic  salvation.  This  fundamental  thought 
of  their  Messianic  prophecy  is  at  the  same  time  one  of 
the  thoughts  of  God  that  are  prominent  in  the  history 
of  that  period.  By  the  destruction  of  the  kingdom  of 
the  Ten  Tribes  the  people  of  God  were  first  of  all 
reduced  to  the  citizens  of  the  kingdom  of  Judah,  and  • 
after  the  judgment  passed  upon  this  kingdom  and 
executed  by  the  Assyrians,  there  was  left  spared  but 
a  remnant — Jerusalem  and  those  who  had  fled  thither.^ 
— In  the  Assyrian  period,  moreover,  there  comes  into 
clearest  light  the  truth  tliat  not  even  the  greatest  loorld-  [ 
power  can  destroy  the  little  Idngdom  of  God,  or  frustrate 
God's  saving  purpose  concerning  Israel,  and  that,  indeed, 
the  power  that  makes  the  attempt  only  promotes 
thereby  its  own  ruin.  That  the  right  hand  of  the  Lord  vf 
maintains  the  victory  over  all  enemies,  was  preached  at 
that  time  with  special  impressiveness  by  the  history 
both  of  the  Syro-Ephraimitic  war  and  the  hostile  ex- 
pedition of  Sennacherib.  Hence  this  truth  also  forms 
a  dominant  note  in  the  ]\Iessianic  prophecy  of  Isaiah, 
to  whose  spiritual  vision  the  impending  victory  of 
Isa.  37.  4.  32. 


212    The  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  rrophecy  : 

Jehovah  over  the  Assyrian  world-power  appears  almost 
with  the  clearness  of  the  actual  event.  The  victorious 
1 2^ower  of  Jehovah  and  His  anointed  is  a  feature  of 
his  pictures  of  the  perfect  time  tliat  is  everywhere 
prominent.  It  destroys  all  external  enemies  and 
hardened  evil-doers,  and  thus  makes  possible  the  erec- 
tion of  the  perfected  Kingdom. — The  close  connexion 
between  prophecy  and  history  shows  itself,  again,  with 
special  clearness  in  the  fact  that  the  Messianic  prophecy, 
which  promises  the  conclusion  of  an  entirely  new 
covenant  between  Jehovah  and  His  people,  and  dis- 
tinctly and  definitely  characterises  the  Theocracy  of  the 
last  days  as  one  different  from  the  theocracy  that  had 
existed  hitherto}  is  announced  by  just  the  prophet  who 
could  not  have  failed  to  become  convinced,  beyond  all 
his  predecessors,  of  the  inefficiency  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment institutions,  and  wdio  watched  the  approach  of 
the  inevitable  destruction  of  the  existing  theocracy. 
Jeremiah's  experience  led  him  to  the  perception  that 
not  even  the  reformation  of  the  good  king  Josiah  had 
been  able  to  prevent  the  degeneracy  of  tlie  whole  people 
that  followed  upon  his  death.  It  had  become  fully 
apparent  that  a  law  that  was  external  to  the  people 
could  not  keep  them  permanently  true  to  their  God. 
The  kingship  (since  the  death  of  Josiah)  and  the  priest- 
hood had  tended  rather  to  the  complete  derangement 
than  to  the  preservation  of  the  theocracy.  And  even 
genuine  prophecy,  handicapped  by  a  conflict  with  a 
gang  of  false  prophets,  was  not  in  a  position  to  prevent 

>  Jcr.  31.  29  ni  ;  of.  3.  1(5  f. 


Its  Adaptation  to  tUe  Times.  213 

the  corruption,  although  it  undoubtedly  contained  the 
force  that  would  in  the  future  renovate  the  people.      It 
is  at  this  moment  that  there  flashes  across  the  prophet, 
who  sees  the  downfall  of  the  existing  theocracy  ap- 
proaching, the  insight  that  the  renewed  Theocracy,  which  "^ 
is  to  have  an  eternal  continuance,  must  he  different  in  ^ 
Jcind  from  that  which  has  hitherto  existed.     The  Divine 
judgments,  he  is  compelled  to  announce,  themselves  teach  \ 
him    a   lesson  in  the  truth   that,    as  regards    the    sub-  I 
stantial  form  of  the  theocracy,  all  old  things  must  2^(iss ' 
away  and  all  things  become  new.     Further :  During  the 
Exile  the  Theocracy,  destroyed  as  to  its  outward  exist- 
ence, and  destitute  of  any  external  help  or  support, 
was  preserved  solely  by  the  living  faith  and  stedfast 
faithfulness,  maintained  even  in  extreme  sufferings,  of 
those  who  were  the  bearers  and  representatives  of  the 
idea  of  the  Servant  of  Jehovah — i.e.  the  ideal  corporate  j 
personality  of  the  ministry^  chosen  and  employed  by    '^'^  ^va.*M 
Jehovah  for  the  carrying  out  of  His  .saving  purpose. 
In  correspondence  with  this  is  the  announcement  of 
prophecy  (Isa.  40-66),  that  it  is  only  by  these  ineans 
that  the  Kingdom  can  be  accomplished.       As  in  the 
actual  history  the  victorious  power  of  Jehovah  and  His 

^  This  "ministry"  is,  in  the  first  instance,  Israel  as  the  people  of 
Jehovah's  possession  ;  but  later  it  appears  before  the  general  community 
and  over  against  it  as  the  true  people  of  God,  consisting  of  His  actual 
"servants."  In  view  of  the  catholic  task  entrusted  to  them,  and 
implied  in  their  election,  the  people  of  Israel  are  the  servant  of  Jehovali 
"  according  to  the  flesh  ; "  the  true  worshippers  of  Jehovah,  taken 
separately,  in  so  far  as  they,  like  the  prophets,  are  taken  by  God  into 
His  special  service,  are  the  servant  of  Jehovah  "according  to  the 
spirit."  The  mutual  relation  of  the  visible  and  the  invisible  Church, 
forms  a  perfect  parallel. 


^- 


214    The  Jlidoricul  Charade?'  of  Messianic  Prophecy  : 

Iminan  organs  was  not  externally  prominent,  but  it 
was  clear  rather  that,  according  to  the  Divine  counsel, 
the  final  victory  must  be  won  by  a  constant  faithful- 
ness to  (Jod,  and  a  fulfilment  even,  if  need  were,  in 
tlie  midst  of  suffering,  and  in  ajrparent  external  defeat 
of  the  life  -  task  imposed  by  Him ;  so  in  Messianic 
)rop]iccy  the  idea  comes  to  be  emphasised  that  faith- 
fulness even  unto  deatli  and  deepest  humiliation  in 
suffering  are,  for  the  servant  of  God,  the  way  to  glory. 
Finalbj :  In  the  nature  of  the  case  it  was  precisely  the 
true  worshippers  of  Jehovah  who  had  mainly  to  endure 
the  sufferings  of  the  Exile ;  they  it  was  who  had  to 
suffer  most  from  the  heathen  masters,  and  who  were 
besides  hated  and  persecuted  by  their  apostate  fellow- 
countrymen.  These  godly  persons,  in  whom  the  idea 
of  the  servant  of  Hod  liad  attained  the  greatest  realisa- 
tion, were  not,  of  course,  guiltless ;  they  confessed  in 
the  name  of  the  people  and  in  their  own  name  that 
the  misery  of  the  Exile  was  the  righteous  punishment 
of  their  sins.^  Still  they  kept  hold  of  tlieir  God  in 
faith  and  loyalty  ;  so  far  as  they  were  the  bearers  of 
the  idea  of  the  servant  of  God  they  had  not  deserved 
the  Exile ;  and  all  that  they  had  to  suffer,  because  of 
their  faithfulness  in  the  service  of  Jehovah,  was  a  sinless 
suffering.  They  bore  above  others  the  effects  of  the 
guilt  of  Israel's  denial  of  his  calling — his  rejection  of  his 
ideal.  It  was  laid  upon  them  to  bear  the  heaviest  part 
of  the  burden  of  the  judgment  upon  Israel's  faithless- 
ness.     Upon  this  true  people  of  God  in   the  midst  of 

1  Isa.  64.  i  ir. 


Its  Adaptation  to  the  Times.  215 

Israel,  the  (relatively)  righteous  representatives  of  the 
unrighteous  and  faithless  Israel,  God's  wrath  against 
the  unfaithfulness  of  His  people  was  executed.  Their 
suffering  was  a  substitutionary  hearing  of  Israel's  ^ 
corporate  guilt.  It  was  a  guilt  -  offering  for  the 
defections  of  their  people.  And  just  for  these  His 
servants'  sake,^  just  because  of  their  enduring  faithful- 
ness and  patience  shown  in  this  suffering,  the  faithful 
covenant-God  could  not  for  ever  leave  His  people  in 
the  power  of  their  enemies.  In  consideration  of  the 
willing  patience  with  which  they  endured  the  execu- 
tion of  His  wrath  against  the  sins  of  the  mass  of  the 
people,  it  behoved  Him  for  their  sake  to  be  gracious 
to  the  nation  of  Israel  as  a  whole.  Their  substitu- 
tionary suffering,  therefore,  presented  itself  as  a  chas- 
tisement which  should  bring  about  the  salvation  of  the 
entire  people.  Thus  the  historical  circumstances  of 
the  period  of  the  Exile  disclose  yet  another  view  of  the 
saving  purpose  of  God.  There  is  developed  the  per- 
ception that  Israel  and  humanity  owe  the  salvation  of 
the  perfect  time  to  the  sulstitutionary  punitive  suffering 
which  the  innocent  servant  of  God  endures  in  the  faithful 
discharge  of  his  p)rophetic  vocation  for  the  sins  of  others, 
and  which  is  for  himself  the  God-ordained  path  to  glory.- 
We  see  thus  how  of  necessity  history  always  co- 
operated with  Messianic  prophecy,  enabling  it  to  bring 
to  light  one  moment  after  another  of  God's  saving 
purpose,  and  to  give  ever  clearer  and  more  definite 
deliverances  as  to  the  end  of  the  ways  of  God. 
1  Isa.  65.  8.  2  isa^  53^ 


V 


210    Tlic  Historical  Character  of  Messianic  Prophecy. 

So  much  regarding  the  qualifying  and  determining 
influence  of  the  varying  times  upon  the  content  of 
Messianic  prophecy.  We  are  now  sufficiently  prepared 
to  determine  with  some  accuracy  in  a  third  and  last 
section  the  relation  of  INIessianic  pro2)hecy  to  Ncio 
Testament  fuljilment. 


THIED    PAET. 

THE  EELATION  OF  MESSIANIC  PROPHECY  TO  NEW 
TESTAMENT  FULFILMENT. 

THE  tendency  of  our  argument  hitherto  has  been  to 
expose  the  error  of  regarding  Messianic  prophecy 
as  consisting  of  so  many  isolated  products  of  a  creative 
spirit  of  revelation,  which,  working  with  wholly  imme- 
diate effect,  and  refusing  to  bind  itself  to  any  law  of 
human  or  historical  development,  finds  a  constant 
pleasure  in  the  altogether  supernatural  production  of 
absolutely  new  truths.  The  religion  of  the  Old 
Testament  covenant-people  —  a  religion  founded  and 
developed  by  the  self-revelation  of  God — is  the  mother- 
soil  on  which  prophecy  has  grown,  and  from  which 
it  has  drawn  its  nourishment.  We  recognised  in 
prophecy  the  new  blossoms  and  fruits  which,  under 
the  continuous  revealing  and  enlightening  activity  of 
the  Spirit  of  God,  have  developed  themselves  from 
germs  which  the  Old  Testament  religion  from  the  first 
kept  hid  within  itself.  In  these  blossoms  and  fruits, 
appearing  in  course  of  time,  we  remarked  a  rich  variety 
of  form  and  colour,  the  reason  of  which  we  saw  to  be 
— apart  from  the  mental  peculiarities  of  the  several 
prophets — chiefly  the  qualifying  and  determining  influ- 


218  The  Jiclation  of  Messianic  Prophccij  to 

ence  which  historical  conditions  and  circumstances 
exercise  in  every  period  upon  Messianic  prophecy.  As 
the  prophet  in  all  cases  regards  his  historical  present 
in  the  light  thrown  back  upon  it  from  tlie  end  of  the 
ways  of  God,  so,  conversely,  he  sees  the  brilliance  of 
the  final  salvation  only  in  the  scattered  and  coloured 
rays  through  which  alone  the  atmosphere  of  his  present 
suffers  it  to  appear.  Similarly,  it  depends  upon  the 
historical  conditions  and  circumstances  of  any  particular 
time  M'hich  of  the  ideas  contained  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment religion,  and  incorporated  in  the  Old  Testament 
theocracy,  is  made  the  starting  -  point  of  Messianic 
prophecy,  or  which  aspect  of  the  final  salvation  is 
made  specially  prominent  through  the  unfolding  of  the 
germs  of  Messianic  truth  which  it  contains.  And, 
finally,  the  thoughts  of  God  which,  as  fundamental 
principles  of  the  government  of  the  world,  or  as 
moments  of  God's  sovereign  plan,  principally  determine 
the  course  of  history  in  the  time  of  the  prophet,  are 
also  the  fundamental  thoughts  which  give  to  Messianic 
prophecy  its  peculiar  character  and  content ;  and  thus, 
in  the  course  of  the  history  of  the  Old  Covenant, 
whensoever  anything  new  is  about  to  transpire,  there 
flash  across  the  minds  of  the  prophets  new  apprehen- 
sions regarding  the  saving  purpose  of  God,  and  the 
ways  and  means  in  which  it  is  destined  to  attain 
accomplishment. 

Before  we  attempt,  on  the  basis  of  these  results,  to 
determine  with  precision  the  relation  of  ]\Iessianic  pro- 
phecy  to    New   Testament   fulfilment,   let   us   remind 


New  Testament  Fidfilmciit.  219 

ourselves  once  more  of  the  clear  distinction  between 
the  content  of  prophecy — the  sense,  i.e.,  in  which  the 
prophets  themselves  understood  their  own  ^^tterances, 
and  wished  them  to  be  understood  by  their  contem- 
poraries, and  that  ultimate  reference  to  fulfilment  through 
Christ  which  is  ordained  in  God's  decree,  and  which 
entitles  them  to  a  place  in  the  process  of  historical 
revelation.  Into  the  former  there  must  be  conveyed 
none  of  the  significance  which  the  word  of  prophecy  has 
acquired  only  for  us  who  look  back  upon  the  entire 
course  of  the  development  of  Messianic  prophecy  in 
the  light  of  New  Testament  fulfilment  (pp.  G  ff.).  On 
the  basis  of  this  clean-cut  separation  of  Old  Testament  i 
prophecy  from  New  Testament  fulfilment,  we  have  now ' 
to  exhibit  at  once  the  dijference  and  the  harmony 
subsisting  between  the  two. 

1,  That  Old  Testament  prophecy  and  New  Testament 
fulfilment  are  not  entirely  coextensive  terms,  that,  on 
the  contrary,  the  latter  transcends  the  limit  of  the 
former,  is  not  denied  even  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
one-sided  supranaturalistic  method  of  Scripture  study, 
although  the  inclination  to  reduce  the  difference  to 
the  lowest  measure  possible  by  reading  the  soteriology 
of  the  New  Testament  into  the  prophecies  of  the  Old, 
accords  exactly  with  the  essence  of  this  method,  and 
always  makes  itself  felt  more  or  less  in  its  exegesis. 
Still  this  standpoint  always  insists  upon  this  at  least : 
that  prophecy  should  be  completely  covered  by  the 
fulfilment.  The  particular  Messianic  announcements, 
it  is  argued,  all  indeed  bear  in  themselves  the  mark 


{ 


220  The  Relation  of  Messianic  Pro^jhecy  to 

of  one-sidedness,  because  in  every  case  tliere  is  shown 
to  the  vision  of  the  prophet  only  the  truth  which  is 
^^dapted  to  and  capable  of  affecting  the  crisis  of  the 
particular  time,  and  his  prophecy  is  invariably  but  the 
correct  expression  of  wliat  he  has  seen.  The  Messianic 
prophecies  are  therefore,  it  is  urged,  fragments ;  but 
these  fragments  must  admit  of  being  pieced  together 
in  a  uniform  well-fitted  mosaic,  so  as  to  form  an 
essentially  complete  picture  of  the  Messianic  salvation 
and  the  manner  of  its  accomplishment.  The  task  of 
construction  is,  moreover,  very  considerably  lightened 
by  the  fact  that  the  record  of  the  fulfilment  supplies 
us  with  the  clue  that  enables  us  to  determine  with 
certainty  the  place  of  each  separate  piece.  There  may 
be  vacant  spaces  here  and  there  in  the  prophetic 
picture  ;  it  may  not  be  altogether  sufficient  to  repre- 
sent the  entire  fulness  and  glory  of  the  New  Testament 
salvation.  But  there  cannot  he  any  feature  in  the 
prophecies  to  ivhich  there  is  not  some  correspond iny 
feature  in  the  fulfil  nient.  To  suppose  otherwise  is  to 
suppose  that  the  prophets  did  not  really  speak  God's 
word,  did  not  describe  only  what  CJod's  Spirit  granted 
ythem  to  see  of  the  future  salvation.  This  is  in  the 
I  main  Hengstenberg's  view  of  the  relation  of  prophecy 
to  fulfilment,  and  it  leads  inevitably  to  that  spirit- 
ualistic evaporising  of  the  concrete,  historical,  and 
specifically  Old  Testament  features  in  the  Messianic 
prophecies  of  whose  illegitimacy  we  have  already  led 
satisfactory    proof  ^   (pp.    loOff.).       On    the    basis  of 

^  Cp.  IlKNdSTKNRKiiG'.s  Chrislolo'jie,  iii.  2,  pp.  1S5  11'. 


Neiv  Testament  Fidjilmcnt.  221 

our  preceding  argument  we  must  declare  this  view 
untenable,  and  the  attempt  to  piece  together  in  one 
complete  picture,  without  qualification,  all  the  indi- 
vidual features  of  Messianic  prophecy,  and  to  find  in 
Christ  and  His  Kingdom  the  fulfilment  of  every 
individual  feature,  we  must  pronounce  at  once  un- 
warrantable and  impracticable.  Understood  in  their 
true  historic  sense,  the  individual  Messianic  prophecies 
are  the  various  forms  in  v/hich  in  the  course  of  its 
development,  and  under  varying  historical  circum- 
stances, the  Messianic  idea  asserted  itself.  They  ought 
not  to  be  compared  to  the  fragments  of  a  picture — a 
figure  that  could  originate  only  at  the  lifeless,  external, 
mechanical  point  of  view  of  a  one  -  sided  super- 
naturalism.  They  should  be  compared  rather  to  the 
different  forms  of  a  living  organism,  which  advances 
through  a  series  of  phases  of  development.  Just  as,  in 
the  course  of  its  development,  individual  leaves  fall 
from  a  plant,  and  are  replaced  by  new  ones ;  as  in  the 
development  of  the  brute  -  organism  every  organ 
assumes  just  the  form  in  which  at  that  particular 
stage  of  development  it  can  best  fulfil  its  intended 
purpose, — so  it  is  with  Messianic  prophecy.  Its  con- 
crete significance,  its  special  bearing  on  the  historical 
circumstances  of  the  time  of  its  origin,  is  of  so  great 
importance  at  the  time  of  its  announcement  that, 
apart  from  it,  it  would  be  able  only  very  imperfectly, 
if  at  all,  to  fulfil  its  destination.  But  this  importance 
is  transitory  ;  it  is  limited  to  the  time  during  which 
the  circumstances  in  question  continue,  and    attaches 


00  0 


The  Ilclatiuii  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 


to  the  times-borrowed  features  of  the  prophecy  for  only 
so  long  as  the  historical  stage  of  development,  to  which 
the  prophecy  belongs,  lasts.  IJy  the  time  the  histori- 
cal circumstances  were  substantially  altered,  those 
elements  of  the  prophecy  had,  at  least  in  part  and  as  a 
rule,  found  their  relative  times-adapted  fulfilment,  and 
so  far  as  this  was  not  the  case  they  could  never  after- 
wards be  fulfilled  in  the  sense  which  they  liad  for  the 
prophet  and  his  contemporaries.  Such  a  fulfilment 
would  have  been  possible  only  on  the  supposition  that 
the  Messianic  salvation  had  been  really  intended  in 
tlie  counsel  of  God  to  appear  so  soon  as  the  prophets 
anticipated,  i.e.  actually  in  the  time  during  which  the 
historical  circumstances  of  the  time  in  which  the 
prophecy  originated,  continued  for  the  main  part 
unaltered.  A  later  time  lacked  the  conditions  of  a 
fulfilment  corresponding  to  their  historical  sense. 
Hence,  so  soon  as  the  historical  circumstances  have 
become  substantially  altered,  Messianic  prophecy  drops 
these  concrete  features,  —  whether  they  have  been 
relatively  fulfilled  or  not, — and  something  altogether 
new  takes  the  place  of  the  old  that  has  been  outlived, 
and  has  lost  its  full  significance  and  effective  force. 
Thus  a  very  considerable  portion — as  regards  bulk — 
of  the  content  of  the  Messianic  prophecies  rcmaim 
}  outside  the  s'plicre  of  New  Testament  fulfilment,  either 
through  its  having  already  found  its  relative  times- 
adapted  fulfilment  before  the  "  fulness  of  time,"  or 
through  its  remaining  altogether  unfulfilled. 

But    does    not    the    admission    that    a   portion    of 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  223 

prophecy  remains  thus  unfulfilled  necessarily  present 
itself  in  a  somewhat  serious  light  ?  Announcements 
which  are  not  confirmed  by  fulfilment  seem  in  general 
hardly  entitled  to  be  ranked  with  truth  that  rests  on 
revelation,  but  rather  to  be  mere  human  thoughts  and 
words  that  have  originated  in  the  prophet's  own  spirit/ 
and  have  commingled  with  what  really  proceeds  from 
Divine  revelation.  The  fulfilment  of  prophecies 
depends,  of  course,  as  a  rule  upon  further  conditions,  <- 
expressed  or  tacitly  assumed,  which  belong  to  the 
sphere  of  human  freedom,  and  hence  many  a  prophecy, 
though  announced  in  the  Spirit  of  God,  may  remain 
unfullilled."  But  it  can  never  be  explained  in  this 
way  alone,  liow  a  portion  of  the  content  of  prophecy 
should  remain  thus  unfulfilled.  No  one  can  seriously 
pretend  that  if  Israel  had  only  exhibited  a  perfect 
faithfulness  to  his  God  it  would  have  been  possible,  in 
every  instance,  for  the  Messianic  salvation  to  appear 
so  soon  as,  and  precisely  in  the  manner  in  which,  the 
prophets  announced ;  and  yet  only  thus  could  all  the 
times  -  borrowed  elements  of  Messianic  prophecy  have 

1  Millihham  (cp.  sup.  pp.  16  ff.). 

''  Cp.  on  this  Bertheau  in  the  Jahrb.  f.  D.  Th.  iv.  334-353,  who, 
however,  goes  too  far  in  supposing  that  every  case  of  the  non-fulfilnieut 
of  prophecy  can  be  explained  in  this  way,  and  whose  argument  seems 
in  some  places  almost  to  assume  that  there  was  nothing  unconditioned 
or  unalterably  stable  in  the  purpose  of  God,  and  in  particular  that  the 
time  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  was  not  predetermined  in  His 
eternal  counsel  ;  it  appears,  however,  from  his  later  expositions  {e.g. 
pp.  655  f. )  that  this  is  not  really  his  meaning.  The  remarks  of 
H.  ScHULTZ  (in  loc.  cit.  ii.  pp.  57  ff.,  2nd  ed.  pp.  242  ff.),  both  on  the 
conditionedness  of  prophecy  and  on  the  limits  of  this  conditioneduess 
and  alterableness,  are  much  to  the  point. 


224  The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

been  fulfilled.  Its  partial  non-fulfilment  has  therefore 
an  additional  reason  in  a  region  above  that  in  which 
the  promise  is  conditioned  by  the  conduct  of  men — 
'that,  viz.,  of  the  eternal  counsel  of  (Jod.  Because  the 
salvation  was  designed  to  appear  only  when  the  time 
was  fulfilled,  it  was  possible  that  the  content  of 
prophecy  should  be  partially  unfulfilled.  But  in  that 
case  do  not  the  scruples  we  feel  at  the  suggestion  of 
a  non-fulfilment  of  propliecy  seem  justified  ?  Do  not 
the  announcements  which  fail  to  harmonise  with  the 
purpose  that  God  has  actually  conceived  and  carried 
out  appear  only  as  a  disturbing  element,  which  in 
consequence  of  the  limits  ^  imposed  upon  his  prospect, 
the  prophet  has  mixed  up  with  the  announcement  of 
what  the  Spirit  had  revealed  to  liim  of  the  counsel  of 
(iod? 

Such,  indeed,  would  necessarily  be  our  verdict  if  to 
the  concrete  historical  features  of  the  Messianic  pro- 
l)]iecies  there  belonged  only  the  sense  that  is  limited 
to  the  time  of  their  oriyin.  Over  and  above  this  sense, 
however,  they  have  a  ^;er?/iawc?i^  significance,  relating 
them  to  the  New  Covenant,  and  finding  in  the  latter 
its  realisation. 

For  they  embody,  after  all,  moments  of  the  Messianic 
idea  itself,  which  is  through  them  concretely  applied 
to  the  circumstances  of  a  definite  time.  What  is 
passing  encloses  thus  necessarily  also  something  that 
is  permanent ;  in  the  husk  of  the  liistorical  present 
there  is  an  ideal  kernel  of  the  eternal  thoughts  of  God, 
1  Cp.  I'p.  130  ir.  1  Kill'.  i2-2ir. 


Nao  Testament  Fidjilment.  22 o 

and  when  in  the  later  development  of  Messianic  pro- 
phecy the  husk  is  stripped  off',  the  kernel  is  not  there- 
fore surrendered ;  it  reappears  as  a  constituent  of  later 
prophecy,  but,  of  course,  metamorphosed  and  invested 
with  a  new  form  adapted  to  its  altered  circumstances, 
which  latter  also,  when  its  term  has  expired,  gives 
place  to  some  other  times-adapted  investiture.  A 
sifting  process  is  thus  accomplished,  in  the  course  of 
the  development  of  Messianic  prophecy,  upon  the 
contents  of  the  individual  prophecies,  the  result  of 
which  is  to  show  what  portion  of  them  is  of  substan- 
tial and  permanent  import  as  revealing  the  Divine 
purpose  regarding  the  final  salvation,  and  what,  on  the 
contrary,  has  only  an  accidental  and  passing  signifi- 
cance as  being  merely  the  envelope  in  which  the 
relative  moments  of  this  purpose  had  to  be  conveyed 
to  the  consciousness  and  lively  perception  of  the  pro- 
phet and  his  contemporaries.  The  former  portion  is 
the  substance-proper  of  the  revelation  that  is  intended 
for  all  times.  The  latter,  on  the  other  hand,  is  either 
only  the  announcement  of  such  moments  of  the  Divine 
purpose  as  relate  to  individual  stations  of  the  ivay  to 
the  goal  of  the  final  salvation,  or,  at  best,  only  some 
temporary  means  or  channel  of  revelation ;  hence  its 
partial  non-fulfilment  need  be  no  occasion  of  stumbling, 
nor  does  it  in  the  least  degree  mark  it  as  a  disturbing 
element,  mixed  up  with. the  genuine  oracles  of  revela- 
tion by  the  prophet  himself  without  the  connivance  of 
the  Spirit. 

As  regards  their  essential  and  permanent  substance, 


226  Tlic  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

individual  prophecies  actually  stand  in  a  complementary 
relation  to  one  another.  For  the  historical  circum- 
stances of  any  particular  time  have  always,  in  greater 
or  less  degree,  their  peculiar  stamp — they  have  always, 

.^  so  to  speak,  their  specialties,  which  never  exactly  re- 
peat themselves  in  any  later  time.  Hence  in  the 
times- features  of  the  individual  prophecies  there  are 
always   represented   some    moments    or  other   of   the 

A  Divine  purpose  of  salvation  which  no  longer  appear 
in  the  later  prophecies,  or,  at  the  least,  some  aspect  of 
these  moments  is  illumined  which  the  historical  circum- 
stances of  later  times  do  not  offer  any  opportunity  of 
again  bringing  to  light.  Thus,  in  the  application 
necessarily  made  of  it  in  course  of  time  to  a  great 
variety  of  different  historical  circumstances,  the  Messi- 
anic idea  unfolds  the  wealth  of  its  content,  and  every 
individual  prophecy  contributes  its  part  to  the  work 
of  bringing  this  content  completely  into  view. 

As  regards,  further,  their  ideal  and  permanent  sub- 
stance, even  the  times-features  of  the  Messianic  pro- 
])hecies  are  referable  to  Christ  and  His  kingdom ;  and, 
indeed,  it  is  only  in  so  far  as  they  relate  to  Him  that 
the  oft-repeated  saying  of  Christ  is  applicable  to  them  : 
"  dct  2^1^^'othenai  pdnia  id  geyramm^na  perl  cmoil."^ 
Tiie  eternal  thoughts  of  God  that  form  tlieir  kernel, 
attained  necessarily  in  the  New  Covenant  a  full  accom- 
])lishment  in  Christ,  and  through  Him,  consequently, 
they  find   the  fulfdment  best   suited  to  their  deepest, 

'  "It  is  necessary  tliat  all  tilings  written  concerning  me  should  be 
ulfillcd." 


Nciu  Testament  Fulfilment.  227 

their  ideal  substance,  whereas  the  times-fulfihneiit, — if 
in  the  history  of  the  Old  Covenant  there  have  been 
such, — wliile  it  corresponds,  indeed,  more  precisely 
with  the  literal  and  historical  sense  of  the  words,  i.e. 
with  the  concrete  form  which  the  eternal  thoughts  of 
Grod,  in  their  application  to  definite  historical  circum- 
stances, have  received  in  these  prophecies,  presents 
itself,  nevertheless,  only  as  an  imperfect  and  temporary 
accomplishment  of  the  kernel-thoughts.  It  is  clear 
from  this  that,  just  in  consequence  of  the  times-colour- 
ing of  all  Messianic  prophecies,  the  typico-Messianic  ^ 
element  forms  a  considerable  portion  of  their  content, 
and  thus  the  assertion  that  «  typico-Messianic  character 
is  more  or  less  ijccnliar  to  them  all,  is  well  founded. 

These  remarks  seem  to  us  a  sufficient  acknowleds- 
ment  of  the  measure  of  truth  contained  in  the  view  of 
Hengstenberg  criticised  above,  and  in  particular  in  his 
spiritualising  exegesis  of  the  prophecies.  It  is  true 
that  when  our  object  is  to  exhibit  tliat  ultimate  refer- 
ence of  the  Messianic  prophecies  to  the  fulfilment  in 
Christ  ivhich  gives  them  their  place  in  the  process  of 
historical  revelation,  only  the  idea  contained  in  the 
times -borrowed  features  is  of  essential  importance, 
inaccurate  as  it  is  to  speak  of  the  times -form,  in 
which  the  idea  is  expressed,  as  if  it  were  a  mere 
figure.  Hengstenberg's  mistake,  momentous  as  of 
course  it  is,  consists,  in  fact,  solely  in  his  failure  to 
distinguish  sufficiently  between  the  content  proper  of^ 
the  prophecies  and  that  God-intended  and  God-ordained 
reference  to  their  ultimate  fulfilment  which  is  recos- 


228  Tlic  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

nisable  only  in  tlie  later  progress  of  the  history  of 
revelation  and  salvation,  and  in  his  misapprehension 
of  the  significance  of  their  historical  sense/ 

2.  Similar  to  the  case  of  the  times-borrowed  ele- 
ments of  Messianic  prophecy  is  that  of  its  specifically 
Old  Testament  features.  These  grow  from  the  soil  of 
the  Old  Testament  religion.  The  prophets'  knowledge 
of  the  Divine  thoughts  of  salvation,  which  are  to  take 
effect  in  the  New  Covenant,  is,  in  harmony  with  the 
fact  of  its  psychologically  mediated  origin,  developed 
i'rom  Old  Testament  conceptions ;  they  can  therefore 
announce  these  thoughts  only  as  they  are  apprehensible 
from  the  Old  Testament  standpoint.  In  particular, 
the  prophet's  conception  of  the  perfected  Kingdom  can 
J.  never  wholly  disentangle  itself  from  his  view  of  the 
existing  theocracy ;  every  prophet  will  to  a  certain 
e.xtent  conceive  and  present  the  completion  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  as  merely  the  perfecting  and  the 
glorifying  of  the  existing  theocracy,  and  hence  every 
prophecy  will  have  to  a  certain  extent  a  specifically 
Old  Testament  colouring,  betraying  the  soil  from  which 
it  has  sprung.^  Equally  with  the  times-features  these 
specifically  Old  Testament  elements  are  for  the  pro- 
phetic consciousness  no  mere  figures;  they  are  rather 
the  envisaging  forms  under  which  it  possesses  the  know- 
ledge of  the  saving  thoughts.  It  is  true  that  even  the 
prophet  himself  has  in  many  cases  a  more  or  less  clear 

'  Cp.  ]K  l.'iS,  note. 

'^  Cp.  Okhlek,  art.   "  Weissaj^aing,"  in  Hcrzog's    RiahucyU.   xvii. 
C55,  and  Thtulogu  dcs  Alien  TestumeiUtx.  ii.  §  21(i. 


Neiu  Testament  Fulfilment.  229 

consciousness  of  the  fact  that  these  envisaging  forms 
are  inadequate  to  express  the  saving  thoughts  which 
they  invest ;  hence  not  unfrequently  there  appear, 
borrowed  from  the  conception  of  the  existing  theocracy, 
features  which  the  prophets  could  not  conceivably 
mean  to  be  understood  literally,  in  their  use  of  which 
they  are  manifestly  concerned  much  rather  with  the 
idea  than  with  the  envisaging  form,  which  latter, 
indeed,  seems  to  pass  completely  over  into  the  sphere _ 
of  conscious  symbolism.  Think,  for  example,  of  the 
announcement  that  all  the  heathen  who  survive  the 
judgment  ivill  come  year  ly  year  to  Jerusalem  to  cele- 
brate the  Feast  of  Tabernacles}  or  that  "  all  flesh  "  will 
make  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  ei'cry  Sabhath  and 
every  neiv  moon?  Even  in  delineations  of  the  perfected 
Kingdom  that  keep  themselves  in  other  respects  within 
the  limits  of  Old  Testament  conceptions,  the  same 
transition  is  sometimes  observable  in  individual  fea- 
tures, yet  not  to  such  an  extent  as  to  warrant  the  whole 
being  taken  allegorically.  Thus,  e.g.,  Ezekiel,  in  the 
description  of  the  new  theocracy  in  the  famous  pro- 
phecy of  the  stream  proceeding  from  the  dwelling-place 
of  God  and  transforming  the  holy  land  into  paradise, 
allows  the  idea  to  emerge  most  unmistakably  from  its 
Old  Testament  investiture,  and  makes  the  latter  appear 
only  as  its  symbolic  veil. — Nevertheless,  as  a  rule,  the 
prophet  cannot  consciously  distinguish  between  the  Old 
Testament  envisaging  form  and  the  saving  thoughts  of 
God  which  it  contains ;  he  grasps  the  latter  only  in  the 

1  Zecli.  14.  16  ff.  *  Isa.  66.  23. 


230  The  Rdation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

envelope  of  the  former,  and  is,  in  general,  not  in  a 
position  to  dispense  with  the  Old  Testament  envelopes/ 
lUit  what  he  is  personally  unable  to  accomplish,  accom- 
plishes itself,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  course  of  the 
total  development  of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  for  at 
its  culminating  points  the  apprehension  of  the  saving 
thoughts  of  God  tends  clearly  to  free  itself  from  the 
limitations  of  Old  Testament  conceptions.  And  indeed, 
in  general,  the  prophecy  that  is  later  in  point  of  time 
is  also  the  prophecy  that  is  more  developed  and  that 
brings  to  clearer  and  more  perfect  light  the  saving 
purpose  of  God  and  the  true  character  of  the  perfected 
Kingdom.  On  the  whole,  the  kernel  of  the  eternal 
thoughts  of  God  tends,  in  the  Messianic  prophecies  of 
the  later  prophets,  more  and  more  to  shine  through 
Tind  discard  the  Old  Testament  veils.  While,  c.(j.,  the 
oldest  Messianic  prophecy  still  preserves,  even  in  the 
delineation  of  the  perfected  Kingdom,  the  national 
exclusiveness  of  the  existing  theocracy,  this  exclusive- 
ness  has  already  disappeared  in  the  prophets  of  the 
Assyrian  period,  who  represent  the  Kingdom  as  ex- 
tending over  the  whole  earth  and  embracing  all 
])eoples.'  But  especially  in  Jeren)iah  and  Deutero- 
Isaiah  Messianic  prophecy  reaches  a  pitch  of  develop- 
ment in  which  the  far-reaching  difference  between  the 
Old  Testament  economy  and  that  of  the  New  Covenant 
is  clearly  recognised  and  expressed. — Still,  the  validity 

^  C.p.,  on  the  above  propositions,  tlio  pertinent  remarks  of  TliOl-VcK 
in  Die  Prapheten  und  Urn'  i\'eissaijH»fjeii,  pjt.  149-156. 
'■^  Cj).  pp.  205  if. 


Nciu  Testament  Fulfilment.  231 

of  this  canon  is  but  a  conditioned  and  limited  validity  ; 
for,  on  the  one  hand,  the  degree  in  which  the  Messianic 
apprehensions  remain  envisaged  in  specifically  Old 
Testament  forms,  depends  to  a  considerable  extent 
upon  the  standpoint  of  the  particular  prophet,  as  we 
see  instanced  in  the  case  of  Ezekiel,  who,  thous[h  the 
contemporary  of  Jeremiah,  has,  least  of  all,  been  able 
to  figure  to  himself  the  people  of  God  of  the  future 
time  apart  from  the  institutions  and  ordinances 
of  the  Old  Testament  theocracy;^  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  in  the  course  of  historical  development  relapses 
constantly  occur  after  the  attainment  of  culminat- 
ing points,  as  is  exemplified  in  the  fact  that  iu 
the  post -Exilian  time  the  limitation  of  Messianic 
apprehension  to  Old  Testament  forms  becomes  again 
much  greater  than  with  Jeremiah  and  Deutero-Isaiah. 
These  heights  of  development,  however,  at  which 
Messianic  prophecy,  whether  as  a  whole  or  in  some  of 
its  individual  utterances,  approximates  most  closely  to 
New  Testament  assurance,  involuntarily  reveal  them- 
selves clearly  and  definitely  to  the  eye  of  one  who 
lives  in  the  time  of  fulfilment.  From  them  as  stand- 
points, the  essential  oneness  of  a  whole  of  Messianic 
prophecy  that  yet  has  been  developed  through  various 
historical  stages  is  seen  to  lie  ready  for  review. 
Through  the  light  falling  from  them  upon  the  lower 
stages,  prophecy  itself  reveals  the  note  of  transiency 
which  attaches  to  many  of  its  Old  Testament  envelopes 
of  the  Divine  thoughts  of  salvation.  It  shows  that 
1  Cp.  pp.  129  ff. 


232  The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

these  envisaging  forms,  like  the  times-features,  are  not 
of  the  substance  of  revelation,  but  are  merely  temporary 
— sometimes  even  merely  individual — means  of  revela- 
tion, which  are  able  to  claim  a  permanent  significance 
i  only  in  virtue  of  their  typico-symbolical  character. 

If,  c.fj.,  according  to  Ezekiel,  animal  sacrifices,  includ- 
ing even  sin-  and  guilt-oilerings,  are  still  to  be  offered 
in  the  perfected  Kingdom,^  Hosea  and  Isaiah  have 
already  taught  us  to  see  in  this  something  that  belongs 
merely  to  the  Old  Testament  envelopes  of  the  prophetic 
word,  the  former,  by  his  representation  of  the  repentant 
people  as  vowing,  not  animal  sacrifices,  but  the  "  calves 
of  our  lips," "  i.e.  praise  to  God  as  thanksgiving  for  His 
mercies  ;  the  latter,  by  his  omitting — Isa.  19.  21  apart 
— all  mention  either  of  sacrificial  ritual  or  of  priest- 
hood in  connexion  with  the  people  of  Grod  of  the 
^Messianic  time. 

If,  according  to  Ezekiel,  the  difference  between 
priests  and  laity  is  to  continue  even  in  the  Messianic 
time,  or  be  made  even  more  rigid  than  formerly,^  and 
the  people  to  be  instructed,  as  formerly,  by  the  priests 
in  the  ceremonial  law,'*  prophecies  like  that  of  Jere- 
miah, that  in  the  New  Covenant  all  will  have  the  same 
access  to  God  and  the  same  knowledge  of  Him,^  or 
that  of  Deutero-Isaiah,  that  all  Israel  will  be  a  nation 
of  priests,  and  will  be  taught  in  all  his  members  by 
Jehovah  Himself,''  tend  to  place  such  utterances  in  the 

'  Ezok.  40.  30,  42.  13,  41.  20,  46.  20.  -  Hos.  14.  2. 

'  Kzek.  44.  10.  «  Ih.  ver.  23.  *  Jer.  31.  34. 

"  Isa.  (il,  6,  tiO.  21,  54.  13. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  233 

light  of  an  Old  Testament  element  in  the  prophecy  of 
Ezekiel,  to  which  only  an  individual  importance  can 
be  attached.  And  if  Ezekiel  describes  with  the  utmost 
minuteness  the  new  temple  which  is  to  be  erected  in 
Jerusalem,  and  in  which  God  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of 
His  people  ;  if,  similarly,  post-Exilian  prophecy  lays  the 
greatest  stress  upon  an  adornment  of  the  temple  that 
will  make  it  a  worthy  dwelling-place  of  God,  because 
it  also  conceives  the  gracious  presence  of  God  among 
His  people  as  associated  even  in  the  perfect  time  with 
the  visible  sanctuary, — we  must  put  side  by  side  with 
such  utterances  the  announcement  of  Jeremiah,  that  in 
the  Messianic  kingdom  there  will  no  longer  be  an  ark' 
of  the  covenant  or  an  inaccessible  Holy  of  holies,  for 
the  entire  holy  city  will  be  the  throne  of  Jehovah,  and 
all  peoples  will  assemble  thither  as  to  the  place  where 
God  reveals  Himself,^ — an  announcement  in  the  light 
of  which  the  other  conception  must  appear  also  as 
an  Old  Testament  husk,  which  the  more  developed 
Messianic  prophecy  has  already  stripped  off  as  but 
the  vesture  of  the  saving  thoughts  of  God. 

Thus  by  the  criticism  which  Old  Testament  pro- 
phecy, considered  as  a  whole,  passes  upon  the  details 
of  its  own  content  there  are  separated  from  each  other, 
also  as  regards  a  great  number  of  the  specifically  Old 
Testament  features  of  prophecy,  the  transient  envisaging  : 
forms,  and  the  saving  thoughts  which  they  enclose  ; 
and  it  goes  without  saying  that  the  former  nmst  lie 
outside  the  sphere  of  New  Testament  fulfilment,  while 
1  Jer.    .  16  f. 


234  The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

the  latter  attain  accomplishment  in  the  New  Covenant. 
Hence  the  sphere  of  the  typico-Messianic,  the  sphere, 
i.e.,  of  the  prophecies  which  do  not  find  fulfilment  in 
Christ  in  their  historic  sense,  but  only  in  their  ideal 
substance,  embraces,  as  Old  Testament  prophecy  itself 
teaches,  a  large  portion  of  its  peculiarly  Old  Testament 
theocratic  conceptions.^ 

o.  But  can  a  separation  between  the  Divine  saving 
thoughts  and  their  transient  envisaging  forms,  which 
takes  place  thus  during  the  actual  historical  develop- 
ment of  revelation,  be  said  to  have  been  completed 
within  the  era  of  the  Old  Covenant,— say  with  the 
extinction  of  prophecy  ?  ]\[ust  we  not  from  the  first 
take  for  granted  that  in  general  the  Divine  saving 
thoughts  have  emerged  into  full  light  only  through 
their  realisation  in  actual  fact,  and  that  hence  the 
complete  discarding  of  the  Old  Testament  husks,  which 
invest  them  in  Messianic  prophecy,  cannot  have  hap- 
pened sooner  ?  Such  indeed  is  the  fact.  Even  at  its 
highest  pitches  of  development  Messianic  prophecy 
could  not  rid  itself  entirely  of  specifically  Old  Testa- 
ment conceptions.  Some  pervade  the  entire  scheme 
of  prophecy,  and  present  themselves  only  in  the  light 
of  New  Testament  fulfilment  as  merely  symbolico- 
typical    husks   of    ideas,   whose    accomplishment   was 

^  Cp.  Of.hlei!,  art.  "  Wcissagung,"  p.  656:  "  It  is  not  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  individual  jiroidu't,  l)Ut  the  Spirit  of  revelation  Himself, 
wlio  already  within  the  Old  Testament  at  eaeh  hif;her  stage  of  prophecy 
strips  oH"  the  temporary  form  adhering  to  the  prophecy  of  the  earlier 
stage,  until  in  the  fultiinient  the  full  extent  of  the  symbolic  investi- 
ture comes  to  be  recognised."  Cp.  Thtolo(jie  des  Alten  TestamcnUfi, 
ii.  §216. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  235 

decreed  in  God's  saving  purpose.  Of  this  nature  is 
the  conception  that  Jerusalem,  the  city  which  Jehovah 
had  chosen  to  place  His  name  there,  would  also  in  the 
perfect  time  be  the  place  of  God's  revealing  and 
gracious  presence  on  earth,  and  as  such  the  centre  of 
the  Kingdom  ;  there  God  will  dwell  in  the  midst  of 
His  people  ;  thence  also  He  exercises  the  sovereignty 
over  His  Kingdom,  which  embraces  all  lands  ;  there 
also  He  becomes  manifest  to  the  heathen,  and  there 
all  peoples  worship  Him.  Even  in  the  announcement 
that  God's  revealing  presence  will  no  longer  be  tied  to 
the  ark  of  the  covenant  or  the  inaccessible  Holy  of 
holies,^  Jeremiah  holds  fast  by  this  conception  ;  it 
dominates  similarly  all  the  other  Messianic  prophecies 
of  the  Old  Testament,  and  betrays  its  influence,  now 
in  wider,  now  in  narrower  compass,  in  the  concrete 
details  of  the  delineated  picture  of  the  Messianic 
tlieocracy. 

And  certainly  Jerusalem,  as  the  place  where  the 
Mediator  of  the  New  Covenant  offered  His  all-suQicient, 
eternally-availing  sacrifice,  where  by  His  resurrection 
He  showed  Himself  the  Prince  of  life,  where  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  poured  out  upon  the  disciples,  became,  even 
in  the  history  of  the  fulfilment,  the  principal  scene  of 
the  Divine  revelations  and  deeds  which  have  accom- 
plished the  final  salvation ;  as  such  it  remains  in  a 
ertain  sense,  even  for  the  New  Testament  Theocracy, 
a  centre,  whither  turn  all  eyes  that  are  directed  to 
God's  saving  revelation  in  the  Son.     So  far  Jerusalem's 

1  Jer.  3.  16  f. 


236  The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

election  came  to  its  rights  even  in  the  New  Testament 
f  ultihnent ;  so  far  also  the  conception  of  its  centrality 
that  pervades  Old  Testament  prophecy  is  signally 
attested  as  conformable  to  the  decree  of  God.  But 
only  so  far ;  neither  in  Jerusalem  nor  in  any  other 
place  on  earth  has  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  which  is 
"  not  of  this  world,"  an  external  visible  centre,  as  the 
theocracy  of  the  Old  Testament  had  ;  with  Christ  there 
dawned  a  time  in  which  Jerusalem,  as  well  as  Mount 
Gerizim,  loses  its  character  of  eminence  as  a  holy  place, 
— the  time  of  a  worship  of  God  in  spirit  and  truth,^ 
freed  from  all  limitation  as  to  place,  time,  and  external 
ceremony.  The  express  testimony  of  Christ,  and  the 
actual  character  of  His  Kingdom  permit  us  to  recog- 
nise in  the  conception  that  Jerusalem  should  be 
permanently  the  place  of  Jehovah's  revelation  and 
worship,  merely  an  Old  Testament  form  of  envisage- 
ment  of  which  Messianic  prophecy  was  unable  to  rid 
itself — an  inability  resulting  from  the  fact  that  to  the 
last  it  held  to  the  conception  of  a  theocracy  confined  to 
the  natiiral  '^  terrestrial  ivorld,  whereof  anon. — Hence  the 
conception  of  Jerusalem  as  the  "  city  of  God  "  receives 
in  the  New  Testament  also  a  symbolico-typical  signi- 
ficance. Even  Jewish  theology  had  distinguished 
the  upper,^  other-world,  heavenly  Jerusalem,  from  the 
lower  ^  Jerusalem,  which  is  but  its  earthly  image  ;  and 
I'hilo's  speculative  idealism  had  found  in  Jerusalem, 
the    city  of  God,  a  figure  of  tlie  world  as   the   place 

'  John  4.  23  f.  -  [Diosi^eitig.—Tw.] 

^  Y'-ru.'ihulaijim  shtl-ma'a/rth.  *  Y'^rushulnyim  ■■^lul-inafU't/i. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment,  237 

of  God's  abode  and  revelation,  or  of  the  soul  of 
the  wise  man,  in  whom  God  dwells.^  In  the  same 
way  the  New  Testament  opposes  to  the  earthly  Jeru- 
salem its  antitype,  the  heavenly,  expressing  thus  sym- 
bolically the  contrast  between  the  Old  Testament 
theocracy  (the  earthly  Jerusalem)  and  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  (the  heavenly  Jerusalem),  which  belongs  essen- 
tially to  the  supersensuous  heavenly  world,  and  is  the 
sphere  of  the  substantial  presence  of  God  and  of  full 
communion  with  Him,  and  conceiving  at  the  same  time 
of  the  latter  as  already  existing  on  earth  in  the  Church, 
though  its  perfect  form  is  meanwhile  only  in  heaven, 
and  descends  thence  to  the  earth  only  at  the  second 
coming  of  Christ.-  This  heavenly  Jerusalem  takes,  in 
the  New  Covenant,  the  place  of  the  earthly,  which 
is  only  its  shadow ;  hence  also  the  New  Testament 
writers  referred  the  Old  Testament  prophecies  of  the 
glorifying  of  Jerusalem  as  the  place  of  God's  abode  and 
revelation  in  the  Messianic  kingdom — with  elimina- 
tion of  the  peculiarly  Old  Testament  elements — to  this 

^  Cp.  my  Lfhrhegriffdes  Hehrderhriefes,  pp.  253  f. 

^  And  indeed  the  "  New  Jerusalem  "  of  the  Apocalypse  (Rev.  3.  12, 
21.  2ff.  10  ff.),  intimately  allied  to  the  phrase  of  the  Jewish  theology, 
is  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  it^  other-world  accomplishment,  in  which  it 
exists  at  present  only  in  heaven,  to  lower  itself  thence  to  earth  not  sooner 
than  the  Parousia.  In  the  Epistle  to  the  IJehreios,  on  the  other  hand 
(Heb.  11.  10.  16,  12.  22,  13.  14),  "the  heavenly  Jerusalem"  denotes 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  that  is  indeed  comi)lete  only  in  heaven  (so 
far  therefore  a  future  kingdom),  and  yet  is  already  erected  even  in  this 
world,  affording  to  believers  a  means  of  intercourse  with  the  super- 
sensible heavenly  world,  and  of  enjoying  its  goods  (cp.  my  Lehrbegrijf 
fles  Hehraerhriefes,  pp.  117  ff.).  The  "Jerusalem  which  is  above"  of 
the  Apostle  Paul  (Gal.  4.  26  ;  cp.  Phil.  3.  20)  has  essentially  the  same 
significance. 


238  Tlie  Iidution  of  Messianic  Proplucy  to 

heavenly  Jerusalem,  in  other  words,  to  the  Kingdom  of 
'Christ}  and  found  foretold  in  them  its  future  erection 
in  glorious  accomplishment  at  the  time  of  the  Tarousia. 
This  is  seen  most  clearly  in  those  numerous  passages  of 
the  Apocalypse  where  the  features  descriptive  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  are  borrowed  from  the  last  chapters  of 
Ezekiel  and  from  Deutero-Isaiah. 

Can  the  case  be  otherwise  with  another  conception 
which  also  pervades  all  Old  Testament  prophecy — 
the  conception,  viz.,  that  Israel,  as  Jehovah's  chosen 
and  peculiar  people,  will  continue  to  be,  even  in  the 
last  time  and  with  conservation  of  his  national  idiosyn- 
cracy,  the  kernel  of  the  people  of  God,  assuming,  as  ti 
nation,  a  position  of  royalty  in  the  IMessianic  kingdom, 
and  fulfilling  the  priestly  function  of  mediator  between 
God  and  the  rest  of  humanity  ?  As  is  well  known,  a 
view,  which  was  stoutly  maintained  by  Bengel  and  his 
school, — though  its  advocates  in  former  centuries  were 
but  few  and  far  between, — has  found  of  late  much 
acceptance  in  England  and  Germany,  being  represented, 
among  others,  by  such  considerable  theologians  as  Micii. 
Baumgarten,  J,  T.  Beck,  Auberlen,  von  HoFxMann, 
Delitzsgii,  and  Stier,  to  the  effect  that  when  the  "times 
of  the  Gentiles  "  ^  have  expired,  the  prophecies,  implied 
in  such  announcements,  will  find  a  literal  fulfilment 
"7  in  Israel  as  a  nation.  Peculiar  once  and  for  ever,  it  is 
urged,  to  the  people  of  Israel  in  virtue  of  their  election, 
is  the  calling,  which  assigns  them  their  place  in  the 
history  of  salvation,  as  the  recipients  and  mediators 

'  Cji.  e.g.  the  citation  in  Oal.  4.  27.  "  Kntrot  v.lhnCn. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  239 

of  Divine  revelation,  and  constitutes  them  a  royal, 
priestly  people,  whose  part  it  is  to  mediate  the  rela- 
tions of  the  rest  of  humanity  to  God.  Granted  that 
Israel  was  the  recipient  of  the  Divine  revelations  in 
the  time  of  the  Old  Covenant,  and  that  his  calling 
and  destination  were  fulfilled  through  Christ  and  His 
apostles,  who  indeed  were  a  company  of  Israelites,  this 
does  not  imply  that  the  purposes  of  God  in  the  election 
of  Israel  have  been  fully  accomplished,  or  that  the 
promises  given  to  Israel,  that  he  should  in  the  future 
attain  holiness  as  a  people,  and  exercise  his  priestly 
vocation  on  behalf  of  all  peoples,  have  been  fulfilled. 
His  vocation  and  his  promises  continue  even  in  the 
time  of  the  Xew  Covenant,  and  that  in  spite  of  his 
obstinate  refusal  of  God's  revelation  in  His  Son,  and 
his  consequent  temporary  rejection,  for  "  the  gifts  and 
calling  of  God  are  without  repentance,"  ^  and  these 
promises  concern  the  last  time,  in  which  the  Kingdom 
of  God  will  assume  its  full  glory.  After  the  present 
period  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  after  the  times  of  the 
Gentile  Christian  Church,  when  the  kingdom  of  the 
Millennium  shall  have  been  erected,  repentant  Israel, 
gathered  from  the  dispersion  to  the  Holy  Land,  will 
appear  at  the  head  of  humanity.  Then  will  be  heard 
again  the  voice  of  revelation,  dumb  since  the  time  of 
Israel's  rejection  ;  then  will  the  priestly  kingdom  of  the 
people  of  Israel  be  upon  earth  what  the  glorified  priest- 
kings  are  in  heaven ;  then  only  does  Israel  as  a  people 
fulfil  his  destination,  and  participate  in  the  glory 
Rom.  11.  29. 


240  Tltc  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophcey  to 

I»romised  to  him.^  ''it  is,  further,  only  in  the  line  of 
.  ^  logical  sequence  that  individual  advocates  of  tliis  view 
^  should  expect  not  only  the  ^fathering  of  dispersed 
Israel  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  the  restoration  of 
.Jerusalem  as  the  capital  of  the  theocracy,  but  also  the 
erection  of  the  temple  described  by  Ezekiel,  and  the 
revival  of  the  ceremonial  and  civil  law  of  ]\Ioses  in  the 
cultiLS  and  constitution  of  the  Millennial  kingdom.'-^ 
This  rendering  of  Old  Testament  prophecy  has  been 
contrasted  favourably  with  the  spiritualising  typico- 
allegcrical  mode  of  exegesis  that  has  prevailed  in  the 
Church,  and  passed  as  orthodox  since  the  third  century 
as  marking  a  very  substantial  progress  made  in  modern 
times  in  the  understanding  of  the  Divine  prophetic 
word — a  progress  through  which  exegesis  for  the  first 
time  does  justice  to  the  "  realism  of  Scripture  "  as  well 
as  to  the  true  historical  sense  of  the  prophecies. — Such 
praise,  however,  we  must  take  leave  to  a  certain  extent 
to  call  in  question.  The  abandonment  of  the  tradi- 
tional spiritualising  exegesis  of  the  Church  and  the 
approximation  to  the  strictly  historical  method  of 
interpretation,  must  be  allowed  to  mark  real  progress. 
When,  however,  the  historical  sense,  gained  by  this 

'  Cp.  e.g.  AuBERLEN,  Dcr  Prophet  Daniel  und  die  Offenbarung 
Johannis,  2nd  eJ.  pp.  387  II".  ;  also  liis  Ahhaudluug  iiJitr  die  messi- 
nnisfhen  Wfi^sayungtn  der  moHaifchen  Ztit  in  d^n  Jahrhh.f.  D.  Theol. 
18.58,  Hft.  iv.  especially  pp.  791,  801  11'.,  8:51  11'.,  and  Hukman.n's 
Schri/tbewei.i,  vtd.  ii.  pt.  2,  pp.  7^  tt".  (1st  ed.). 

'■*  So,  e.g.,  J.  J.  Hess  in  his  Briej'e  Uher  die  OJ'eidiarung  Johaitneji, 
pp.  130  ir.  ;  but  also  Aubkhlen,  Dtr  Projdiet  Daniel,  p.  401,  and 
HoFMANN  in  loc.  cit.  p,  538,  though  liis  conception  is  less  literal,  and 
M.  IJai'Mcauten  in  the  article  "Ezechiil"  in  Wvrio'^'a  liad-Ennjkto- 
jx'idie  (1st  ed.)  iv.  pp.  303  ('. 


New  Testament  Fidjllmcnt.  241 

method,  is,  without  distinction  of  the  temporary  or 
individual  from  the  ideal  or  eternal  elements,  hastily 
assumed  to  be  part  of  the  substance  of  the  prophecy, 
and  is  considered  a  literal  announcement  of  the  Divine 
decrees  bearing  on  the  final  completion  of  the  theo- 
cracy, I  can  see  in  this,  not  progress,  but  only  retro- 
gression— and  Judaistic  error}  It  is  an  exaggeration  of 
the  importance  of  the  historical  sense  due  to  the  same 
one-sided  stqjernaturalism  in  the  mode  of  vieiving 'pro'phecj 
noticeable  in  the  unhistorical  spiritualising  method  of 
the  elder  orthodoxy ;  hence  also  it  shares  with  the 
latter  the  erroneous  assumption  that  Old  Testament 
prophecy  must  be  completely  covered  by  a  New 
Testament  fulfilment,  in  which  the  content  of  every 
individual  feature  will  be  fully  represented.  It  is 
chargeable,  moreover,  with  the  same  mistaken  com- 
mingling of  Old  and  New  Testament  elements,  only 
with  the  difference  that,  whereas  the  old  orthodoxy 
introduces  New  Testament  perceptions  into  the  Old 
Testament,  this  new  supernaturalism  takes  over  into 
the  economy  of  the  New  Covenant  what  belongs  pro- 
perly to  that  of  the  Old. 

We  cannot  offer  here  a  detailed  vindication  of  this 
criticism.  This  is  hardly  necessary  in  any  case,  as  the 
refutation  of  the  assumptions,  on  which  the  view 
criticised  rests,  has  already,  in  great  part,  been  ac- 
complished in  our  previous  expositions  of  the  histori- 
cal character  of  the  Messianic  prophecies.  We  shall 
present  only  some  general  points  of  view  from  which 

^  With  this  agrees  Kupek's  verdict  in  loc.  cit.  pp.  480,  486. 


242         The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

its  untenableness  is  easily  recognisable/  and  confine 
ourselves,  in  what  remains,  to  a  positive  exhibition  of 
the  true  state  of  the  case. 

It  is,  in  the  first  place,  absolutely  impossible  to  work 
out  the  view  in  question  in  detail  with  even  a  small 
measure  of  logical  sequence.  There  are  obviously  many 
of  the  Old  Testament  elements  contained  in  prophecy 
>»  which  not  even  the  most  decided  advocates  of  this 
view  can  assume  will  be  fulfilled  in  the  same  way  with 
others,  i.e.  according  to  their  full  historical  sense,  in 
reference  to  which  rather  they  are  compelled  to  have 
resort  to  the  old  allegorico-typical  mode  of  exposition. 
We  refer,  by  way  of  example,  to  the  emphatic  asser- 
tion of  the  difference  between  priests  and  laity,  and  of 
the  privilege  of  the  posterity  of  Zadok,  as  well  as  to 
the  mention  of  sin-  and  guilt-offerings,  and,  in  general, 
of  animal  sacrifice  in  the  Messianic  prophecy  of  Ezekiel. 
To  apply  here  the  literalistic  method  would  involve  a 
fiat  contradiction,  not  only  of  the  clearest  testimonies 
of  the  New  Testament,  but  also  of  the  Messianic 
prophecy  of  the  Old  Covenant  itself ;  it  is  thus  a  case 
in  which  we  must  call  to  our  aid  some  kind  of  typico- 
allegorical  explanation.  The  inconsistency,  however, 
of  referring  such  features  to  the  realm  of  allegory, 
while  claiming  a  literal  interpretation  for  most  of  the 
others,  is  assuredly  not  chargeable  to  Ezekiel,  but  to 

1  We  must  not,  however,  omit  most  cordially  to  recommond  the 
advocates  of  the  view  to  a  fresh,  candid,  and  thorough  consideration  of 
tlie  excellent  discussions  of  Beutiieau,  "Die  alttestamentliche  Weissa- 
g'.ing  von  Israels  Eeichsherrlichkeit  in  scinem  Lande,"  in  the  Jahrbb. 
/.  B.  Theol.  1859,  pp.  314  If.  and  595  tf.  and  1860,  pp.  436  If. 


Neiu  Testament  Fulfilment.  243 

the  expositor,  who  brings  with  him  a  false  "  principal 
key  to  the  understanding  of  the  prophetic  word."  ^  But 
once  more  :  Bertheau  has  given  deserved  prominence 
to  the  fact  that  the  announcement  of  the  "  imperial 
glory  of  Israel "  -  stands  in  the  individual  prophecies, 
almost  throughout,  in  the  closest  connexion  with  that 
portion  of  their  contents  which  relates  to  the  historical 
circumstances  of  the  time  of  their  utterance,  and  that 
therefore  the  view,  which  expects  its  perfectly  literal 
future  fulfilment,  can  be  logically  carried  out  only  upon 
the  assumption  of  the  recurrence  of  all  these  historical 
circumstances.^  As  this  is  essentially  impossible, — 
inasmuch  as  the  historical  circumstances  of  one  time 
exclude  those  of  another, — and  as  none  may  venture 
upon  the  romantic  assumption  that,  before  the  expected 
restitution  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  the  empires  of 
Assyria,  and  Babylonia — not  to  speak  of  the  Philis- 
tines, the  Edomites,  the  Moabites,  and  the  Ammonites, 
— will  again  step  upon  the  stage  of  universal  history, 
as  also  that  the  disruption  between  the  kingdom  of 
Judah  and  that  of  the  Ten  Tribes  will  repeat  itself  in 
order  to  make  its  removal  possible,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  here  also  we  cannot  get  beyond  the  traditional 
typico  -  allegorical  mode  of  exposition.  But  what  a 
net  of  inconsequence  is  here  for  the  literalistic  view  ! 
We  are  to  take  literally  the  announcement  that  the 
people  of  Israel   will    be  assembled   in    the   land   of 

1  Words  of  AUBEKLEN,  Bar  Proplwt  Danid,  p.  3S8. 

2  [Part  of  the  title  of  the  work  cited  above. — Tr.] 
^  Cp.  Bektheau  in  loc.  cit.  1859,  pp.  356  f.,  363. 


244         Tlic  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

Canaan,  and  form  there,  under  the  rule  of  the  Son  of 
David,  a  powerful  flourishing  State  in  the  centre  of  the 
Kingdom  of  God  upon  earth ;  but  we  are  not  to  take 
literally  the  announcements  annexed  to  it,  that  they 
will  reduce  to  subjecticju  the  remnant  of  Edom,  the 
Philistines,  Ammonites,  and  Moabites.^  When  Isaiah 
depicts  the  theocracy  of  the  perfect  time  as  a  universal 
theocracy,  embracing  all  the  then  known  world,  and 
consisting  of  three  kingdoms,  which,  while  independ- 
ent of  one  another,  yet  enjoy  peaceful  nmtual  inter- 
course, and  are  all  alike  the  property  and  the  servants 
of  Jehovah,  Israel,  as  the  chiefly  blessed,  aboriginal 
land  of  Jehovah,  in  the  centre,  Assyria  and  Egypt  on 
its  two  respective  sides,^  we  are  to  understand  that 
what  is  said  of  Israel  is  meant  literally,  and  will  be 
exactly  so  fulfilled,  but  not  what  relates  to  Assyria 
and  Egypt ;  in  general,  whenever  Israel  is  mentioned, 
we  are  to  understand  the  Israelitish  nation ;  so  soou, 
however,  as  the  prophetic  word  names  other  peoples,  it 
does  not  mean  to  designate  the  respective  historical 
nationalities,  but  only  to  typify  the  world-kingdoms, 
which  stand  opposed  to  the  theocracy !  Thus  does 
this  literalistic  conception  of  prophecy  fail  to  extricate 
itself  from  the  errors  of  the  traditional  typico-allegorical 
mode  of  interpretation,  which  it  would  fain  improve, 
and  is,  with  its  half-measures  and  its  inconsequence, 
only  a  degree  more  untenable  than  the  latter. 

Apparent  also  from  the  remarks  just  made  is  the 
very  serious  degree  in  which  this   literalistic  theory 

^  Cp.  e.g.  Amos  9.  12,  Isa.  11.  14,  -  Isn.  10.  23  H". 


Neio  Testament  Fidfilment.  245 

fails  to  recognise  the  true  historical  cliaracter  of  pro- 
^  2^hecy.  Very  specially  it  fails  to  apprehend  how  for 
the  prophets  aud  their  contemporaries  even  the  nearly 
impending  future  is  wholly  transfigured  by  the  light 
which  falls  upon  it  from  the  end  of  the  ways  of  God, 
and  how  therefore  the  immediately  impending  times 
of  salvation  and  grace  are  frequently  depicted,  as  if 
their  dawn  were  already  the  dawn  of  the  perfect  time.^ 
A  genuinely  historical  view  of  prophecy  has,  of  course, 
in  such  cases  to  distinguish  between  an  announcement 
which,  under  certain  definite  historical  circumstances, 
peculiar  to  a  particular  time,  places  within  a  more  or 
less  near  prospect  deeds  of  grace  and  redemption  to 
be  wrought  by  God  for  His  people  Israel,  and  the  ideal 
setting  and  colouring  which  this  announcement  derives 
from  the  fact  that,  in  the  consciousness  of  the  prophet, 
•  the  salvation  promised  to  Israel  and  the  salvation  of 
the  perfect  time  are  merged  together.  To  such  a  view, 
therefore,  it  will  seem  no  more  than  natural  that  the 
actual  times-fulfilment  of  the  promise  made  to  Israel 
should  be  only  a  relative  fulfilment,  and  one  that, 
at  parts,  necessarily  falls  considerably  short  both  in 
internal  significance  and  external  glory  of  the  picture 
projected  by  prophecy,  and  it  will  expect  for  the  latter 
such  higher  and  fuller  accomplishment  as  will  corre- 
spond to  its  ideal  substance,  and  be  characteristic  of 
the  last  times.  But  it  will  never  be  able  to  regard 
this  ultimate  fulfilment  as  one  that  will,  even  in 
external  respects,  perfectly  correspond  with  the  literal 
1  Cp.  pp.  152  f. 


246  TJu  Relation  of  Messianic  ProiJliccy  to 

complex  of  the  phrases  used  by  prophecy ;  nor  will  it 
reckon  as  part  of  the  ideal  substance  of  prophecy 
those  concrete  elements  which  relate  to  the  immediate 
fulfilment  supplied  by  the  subsequent  history  of  Israel, 
as  if  these  were  to  enjoy  another  and  more  brilliant 
fulfilment ;  nor,  similarly,  will  it  take  leave  to  assume 
that  the  ideal  substance  of  prophecy  has  a  special 
validity  for  Israel,  as  if  its  proper  fulfilment  lay  in 
the  sphere  of  that  nationality. 

It  is  therefore  to  mistake  the  historical  character 
of  prophecy,  and  to  ignore  the  lesson  taught  by  the 
wider  course  of  the  history  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  as 
to  the  difference  between  the  properly  eschatological  and 
the  merely  times-elements  in  the  content  of  prophecy, 
to  say :  What  was  prophesied  of  Israel's  conversion 
and  glorious  restitution  to  the  promised  land,  was  only 
very  imperfectly  fulfilled  in  the  return  from  the  Baby- 
lonian exile,  and  the  doleful  centuries  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Old  Testament  theocracy ;  hence,  unless  we 
refuse  altogether  to  believe  in  the  fulfilment  of  pro- 
phecy, its  fuller  accomplishment  is  still  to  be  looked 
for  in  a  future  assembling  of  converted  Israel  in  the 
Holy  Land,  and  in  the  imperial  glory  with  which  he 
will  then  be  invested.^  For  that  which  belongs  only 
to  the  first  step  of  a  mere  times-fulfilment,  this  argu- 
ment coolly  transfers  to  the  realm  of  eschatological 
fulfilment ;  what  is  in  reality  but  the  beginning  of 
fulfilment  is  made  the  end. 

Further,  the  conception  of  the  prophecies  of  Israel's 

^  Cp.  AuBEiiLEN,  Dtr  Prophet  Daniel,  pp.  391  f. 


Neio  Testament  Fulfilment.  247 

imperial  power,  which  we  here  combat,  is  opposed  ly 
analogy.  As  we  have  seen,  there  are,  within  the 
Messianic  prophecy  of  the  Old  Covenant,  important 
differences  in  the  degrees  in  which  the  envisaging 
forms  of  the  Old  Testament  are  insisted  upon  ;  at  its 
highest  pitches  prophecy  discards  many  of  them,  and 
thus  itself  warns  us  'not  to  expect  any  perfectly  literal 
fulfilment  of  such  oracles.  But,  instead  of  following 
up  this  hint,  and  judging  the  whole  case  of  the  Old 
Testament  envisaging  forms  of  prophecy  according  to 
the  analogy  of  such  instances,  the  view  in  question — 
the  moment  it  is  applied  with  any  degree  of  logical 
consistency  —  stints  and  limits  the  content  of  those 
more  highly  developed  Old  Testament  prophecies  which 
come  nearest  to  the  standard  of  New  Testament 
assurance,  in  favour  of  a  literal  understanding  of  others 
that  keep  within  the  limits  of  the  Old  Testament  forms. 
Instead  of  the  letter  of  prophecy  being  judged  in  the 
light  of  those  higher  manifestations,  in  which  every 
now  and  then  the  Spirit  reveals  itself  more  clearly, 
this  very  revelation  of  the  Spirit  of  prophecy  is  again 
obscured  by  an  insistence  upon  the  letter. — There  is, 
however,  yet  another  and  more  complete  analogy  which 
is  contravened  by  this  view.  It  has  already  been 
shown  how,  according  to  the  witness  of  the  New 
Testament,  the  case  stands  with  the  conception  that 
even  in  the  Messianic  time  Jerusalem  will  remain 
the  place  of  Jehovah's  abode  and  revelation,  and  the 
centre  of  the  theocracy.  This  conception,  which  in  like 
manner  pervades  the  entire  scheme  of  Old  Testament 


248         The  Bclation  of  Messianic  Tro'pUccy  to 

prophecy,  hangs  together  in  the  most  indissoluble  way 
with  the  prophecy  of  Israel's  imperial  glory  in  his 
own  land.  If,  now,  the  warrant  of  this  conception 
has  been  attested  in  the  founding  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  by  just  such  an  historical  fulfilment  as  was 
necessarily  involved  in  a  Divinely-ordained  connexion 
between  the  Old  and  New  Testament  kingdom  and 
people  of  God,  which  was  not  merely  pretypical, 
Init  also  organico-historical,  but  if,  beyond  this,  the 
conception  retains  for  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  only  a 
symbolico-typical  significance,  it  cannot  be  permissible 
to  understand  the  announcement  of  Israel's  imperial 
glory  in  his  own  land  quite  differently  ;  on  the  contrary, 
it  can  be  judged  only  in  conformity  with  this  analogy. 
Yet  once  more,  and  finally,  it  must  be  pointed  out 
/^that  the  view  of  our  opponents,  in  order  to  favour  the 
Israelitish  nation,  must,  first  of  all,  deny  the  applica- 
bility to  the  Cliurch  of  Jesus  Christ  of  most  of  the 
promises  to  whose  comfort  she  has  hitherto  believed 
herself  entitled.  For  it  is  affirmed  of  all  the  pro- 
mises made  to  Israel  as  Jehovah's  chosen  and  peculiar 
people — and  they  certainly  form  the  great  majority 
of  the  total  number  of  promises — that  they  are  valid, 
not  only  in  their  historical  sense  (which  we  decidedly 
admit),  but  also  in  their  God-ordained  ultimate  re- 
ference to  fulfilment  in  the  historical  scheme  of  saving 
revelation,  for  Israel  as  a  people,  as  a  nation.  A 
Church  essentially  Gentile-Christian  may  only  medi- 
ately regard  them  as  promises  given  to  her.  Yet, 
as  promises  immediately  available  for  her,  there  are 


Neiu  Testament  Falfilmeni.  249 

allowed  to  remain  the  prophecies  of  the  incoming  of 
the  Gentiles  to  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  their  par- 
ticipation in  the  salvation  bestowed  upon  Israel,  and 
these  in  turn  will  certainly  confer  the  right,  mediately 
to  refer  to  herself  the  promises  intended  properly 
for  the  people  of  Israel  in  view  of  their  future  con- 
version. In  no  spirit  of  '"'  Gentile  pride,"  ^  but  under 
a  grateful  sense  of  the  grace  of  God  bestowed  upon 
her,  and  supported,  as  we  shall  immediately  see,  by 
the  testimony  of  the  New  Testament,  the  Church  will 
always  firmly  protest  against  such  a  conclusion,  and 
will  reject  the  view,  whose  fruit  it  is,  as  unchurchly 
and  heterodox. — But  more  than  this  :  In  order  to 
glorify  Israel,  this  view  takes  from  Christ  Himself 
His  proper  honour.  For  if  Israel  is  destined  to 
exercise  a  perpetual  priesthood  between  God  and 
humanity,  and  will  in  the  Millennial  kingdom  of  the 
future  fulfil  this  destination,  "  imparting  mediatorially 
to  the  nations  the  blessing  of  communion  with  God 
in  a  far  other  and  more  glorious  way  than  hitherto,"  - 
Christ  is  no  longer  the  sole  Mediator  between  God 
and  men,  for  the  mediatorship  of  Israel  is  interposed 
between  Him  and  the  rest  of  humanity  in  such  a  way 
as  to  make  His  mediatorial  function  depend  for  its 
efficiency  upon  the  mediatorship  of  Israel.  And  if 
Israel's  conversion  and  salvation  are  to  be  "  the  first 
real  spiritual  quickening  of  the  Gentiles,"  it  is  again 
apparent    that  the   full   revelation    and    efficiency   of 

1  AuBEBLEN,  Ahhandl.  p.  835. 

^  AuBEKLEK,  Der  Proph&t  Daniel,  pp.  389  f.,  and  Ahhandl.  p,  803. 


250         Tlic  Rdation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

Christ  as  the  Pncfima  zOopoioiin  ("quickening  Spirit  ") 
for  the  nations  and  the  Gentile  Church,  are  conditioned 
by  the  attitude  of  Israel,  being  dependent  upon  a  right 
fulfilment  of  his  vocation  by  the  latter,  which  is  still 
in  prospect.  If,  moreover,  this  view  were  applied  to 
those  prophecies  which  its  advocates  are  accustomed 
to  interpret  as  directly  Messianic  (although,  in  truth, 
in  their  historical  sense  they  apply  quite  as  much,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  Israel  as  the  people  of  God),  i.e. 
to  the  entire  prophecy  concerning  the  servant  of 
God,^  the  degree  to  which  such  an  exaggeration  of  the 
historical  sense  of  prophecy  necessarily  tends  to 
diminish  the  honour  of  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
to  fail  in  the  recognition  of  the  all-sufficiency  of  His 
saving  work,  would  be  yet  much  more  apparent. 

Many  of  the  advocates,  however,  of  the  view  we  are 
combating  do  not  go  so  far  as,  e.g.,  Auberlen.  They  do 
not  expect  a  perfectly  literal  fulfilment  of  the  prophecy 
of  Israel's  imperial  glory.  It  is  acknowledged  that 
much  of  it  is,  in  the  light  of  New  Testament  fulfil- 
ment, to  be  regarded  as  the  Old  Testament  veil  of  the 
saving  thoughts  of  God,  and  only  the  more  general 
root-thought,  that,  even  in  his  dispersion  among  the 
peoples  of  the  earth,  Israel  will  preserve  his  distinctive 
existence  in  view  of  his  final  destiny,  and,  when  the 
times  of  the  world  -  peoples  are  fulfilled,  will,  as  a 
people,  obey  the  call  of  the  gospel  and  reassume  his 
central  position  in  the  Divine  Kingdom,  is  firmly 
retained  as  a  prophecy  that  still  awaits  its  fulfil- 
1  Cj..  pp.  213  ff. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  251 

ment.^  It  is  believed  that  we  are  compelled  to  regard 
this  general  root-thought  as  an  element  essential  to  the 
content  of  prophecy,  partly  by  the  fact  that  even  in 
his  dispersion  Israel  retains  to  this  day  a  separate 
national  existence,^  partly  by  the  testimony  of  the 
JSTew  Testament.  The  objections  we  have  urged  above 
lose  their  force  against  this  modification  of  the  view  in 
question,  and  the  line  of  argument  used  to  support  it. 
The  only  question  is,  has  it  really  the  witness  of  the 
New  Testament  on  its  side  ?  For  answer  we  address 
ourselves  to  the  positive  exhibition  of  the  true  state 
of  the  case. 

Old  Testament  prophecy  certainly  does  not  recognise 
more  than  "  a  temporary  rejection  of  Israel — one,  too, 
that  falls  out  in  such  a  way  that  Israel  does  not 
perish  as  a  people,  but  is  preserved  for  his  future 
home-bringing."^  To  appreciate  properly  the  signifi- 
cance of  this  fact,  there  are  two  things  of  which  we 
must  not  fail  to  take  account.  For  one  thing — the 
above  proposition  notwithstanding — the  promises  of 
tlie  prophets  do  not  avail  for  the  nation  of  Israel  as 
such.  They  do  not  belong  to  Israel-according-to-the- 
flesh,  but  they  concern  him  only  in  so  far  as   he  is 

^  So,  e.g.,  Oehlek  in  the  art.  "  Weissaguiig "  in  Herzog's  Real- 
Encylclopcidie,  pp.  658  f. 

"  "The  miracle  of  Israel's  preservation  to  this  hour,  while  all  the 
other  nationalities  of  antiquity  have  been  annihilated,  or  at  least  trans- 
formed beyond  possibility  of  recognition  through  the  admixture  of 
foreign  blood, — this  double  wonder,  seeing  that  the  other  peoples  re- 
mained in  their  settlements,  while  Israel  was  dispersed  over  the  whole 
world,  is  the  grand  commentary  of  history  on  revelation." — Aubeklen, 
Der  Prophet  Daniel,  p.  392. 

3  Words  of  Oehler  in  loc.  cit. 


252         The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

really  the  chosen  peculiar  people  of  Jehovah  ;  hence 
the  prophecy  of  the  sifting  and  purification  of  the 
people  by  the  Divine  judgments,  and  of  the  remnant 
preserved  amid  these  judgments,  out  of  which  will 
emerge  a  renewed  people  of  God.  It  is  only  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Divine  judgments,  partly  by  extirpation 
of  the  obstinate  evil-doers,  partly  by  the  conversion  of 
the  others  and  the  general  outpouring  of  the  Spirit, 
that  entire  Israel  becomes  the  true  people  of  God, 
whose  part  it  is  to  hope  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  promises. 
— And  along  with  this  it  has  to  be  remembered, 
secondly,  that  in  the  prophetic  consciousness  the  pre- 
servation or,  as  the  case  may  be,  the  restoration  in 
general  of  a  people  and  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  was 
indissolubly  bound  up  with  the  continued  existence  of 
tlie  people  Israel.  And  hcfore  the  time  uris  fulfilled, 
and  under  the  proviso  that  the  saving  work  of  God, 
begun  in  the  election  of  Israel,  should  not  be  frus- 
trated  or  require  to  be  begun  entirely  afresh  through 
Israel's  own  unfaithfulness,  the  relation  thus  assumed 
by  the  prophets  to  obtain  between  Israel  and  the 
Kingdom  of  God  was  actually  in  conformity  with  the 
facts.  Undoubtedly,  however,  the  main  thing  with 
the  prophets,  when  they  hold  out  the  prospect  of  the 
future  redemption  of  Israel  from  the  power  of  the 
heathen,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Israelitish  State,  is 
the  preservation  of  the  people  and  kingdom  of  God 
upon  earth,  even  although  they  do  not  consciously  dis- 
tinguish the  wider  from  the  narrower  issue. — Whence 
it  is  at  once  apparent  that  it  does  not  at  all  correspond 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  253 

with  the  real  sentiments  of  the  prophets  to  represent  the 
promises,  made  through  them  to  Israel  as  Jehovah's 
peculiar  people,  as  available  for  converted  Israel  as  a 
nation,  in  contradistinction  and  opposition  to  a  people 
of  God  gathered  meanwhile  from  among  Israel  and  the 
heathen. 

Now,  the  promises  in  pre-Exilian  and  Exilian  pro- 
phecy of  the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Assyrian  and 
Babylonian  captivity,  of  his  return  and  gathering  into 
the  holy  land,  of  the  rebuilding  of  Jerusalem  and 
the  temple,  and  the  reconstruction  of  the  shattered 
theocracy,  were  notoriously  fulfilled  upon  Israel  as  a 
'people  in  the  times  of  Zerubbabel,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah. 
Consequently  they  disappear  from  the  contents  of  post- 
Exilian  prophecy,  which  in  but  one  other  instance — 
that  of  Zech.  8.  7  f.^^-announces  freedom  and  home- 
bringing  for  those  who  w'ere  even  then  still  captive  in 
East  and  West,  i.e.  in  all  lands.  This  times-fulfilment 
fell  certainly  far  short  of  the  ideal  delineations  of  the 
restoration  of  the  theocracy  projected  by  prophecy, 
and  that,  on  a  just  reckoning,  only  partly  in  conse- 
quence of  the  fact  that  Israel  had  not  yet  turned  to 
his  God  with  his  whole  heart.  For  to  the  prophetic 
consciousness  this  restoration  presented  itself  as  at  the 
same  time  the  ultimate  accomplishment  of  the  King- 
dom. In  particular,  there  remained  yet  unfulfilled 
the   prophecy,  first  announced  with  full  clearness  by 

^  It  would  be  to  mistake  the  apocalyptic  mode  of  presentation, 
already  prevalent  in  the  night-visions  of  Zechariah,  to  adduce  in  this 
connection  the  passage  Zech.  2.  10 ff. 


254         Th>'  Tli'lation  of  Messianic  Pro2'>hecy  to 

Deutero-Isaiali,  that  God's  intention  in  the  election  of 
Israel  should  now  reach  accomplishnient ;  that  Israel 
as  the  servant  of  Jehovah  should,  through  fulfilment 
of  his  prophetic  and  priestly  calling,  accomplish  upon 
all  peoples  God's  saving  purpose  regarding  humanity, 
and  himself  ])iirticipate  in  that  glory,  at  once  royal  and 
priestly,  destined  for  him.  This  contrast  between  the 
times-fulfilment  and  the  much  more  glorious  content 
of  the  prophecy — constituting  for  the  author  of  the 
Book  of  Daniel  a  problem  which  is  solved,  not  by  his 
own  reflection,  but  by  Divine  revelation  ^ — indicated 
that  the  redemption  of  Israel  from  the  power  of  the 
Chaldeans  and  the  restoration  of  the  theocracy  was 
to  be  regarded  only  as  the  beginning  of  the  fulfilment 
of  prophecy,  and  tliat  the  people  of  God  had  still  to 
await  its  full  fulfilment,  and  so  there  was  assigned 
to  post-Exilian  prophecy  the  task  of  preserving  alive 
in  these  doleful  times  the  confident  hope  of  the  im- 
pending accomplishment  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 

And  this  hope  was  not  put  to  shame.  For  in  the 
very  fact  that,  in  the  last  centuries  before  Christ, 
Israel  exercised  unmistakably,  through  the  medium 
of  Alexandrian  Judaism  and  the  translation  of  the 
documentary  sources  of  revelation  into  the  language 
then  spoken  by  the  entire  civilised  world,-  a  purifying 
influence  upon  the  religious  conceptions  of  Greeks  and 
Itomans,  and  led  many  seeking  souls  among  the 
heathen  to  the  knowledge  and  worship  of  the  true  God, 
we  have  to  recognise  a  further  preparatory  step  on  the 

'  Dan.  9.  -  Lit.  in  the  Septuagint. 


Nev^  Testament  Fulfilment.  255 

road  towards  the  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  of  Deutero- 
Isaiah. — But  it  was  only  when  the  time  was  fulfilled 
that  the  promise  given  to  Israel  as  the  people  of  God 
was  fulfilled,  even  in  that  portion  of  its  contents  which 
related  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  Kingdom.  Sal- 
vation was  "  of  the  Jews."  ^  Christ  and  His  apostles 
were  of  the  nation  of  Israel.  The  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel  constituted  the  appointed  sphere  of 
Christ's  personal  ministry.  His  salvation  was  offered 
in  the  first  instance  to  the  Jews.  Children  of  Israel 
formed  the  nucleus  of  the  community  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  were  the  first  recipients  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  the  heralds  of  the  gospel  as  well  for  the 
Gentiles  as  for  their  own  dispersed  brethren.  Thus 
the  prophecy  relating  to  the  accomplishment  of  the 
Kingdom  fulfilled  itself,  as  one  given  to  the  nation  of 
Israel.  The  facts  of  Christ's  membership  in  tliat  nation 
and  of  the  organico-historical  connexion  of  His  Church 
with  Jehovah's  chosen  peculiar  people,  add  the  seal  of 
historical  fulfilment  to  the  announcement  of  the  pro- 
phets that,  conformably  with  the  counsel  of  God,  the 
promise  of  the  Messianic  salvation  belonged  to  Israel 
as  a  people.  The  election  of  Israel  and  the  conception 
of  his  central  position  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  which 
pervades  the  entire  scheme  of  Old  Testament  prophecy, 
as  well  as  the  prophecy  of  his  mediatorial  mission  as  the 
bearer  of  saving  revelation  among  the  nations,  received 
in  this  way  their  rights  in  the  New  Testament  fulfilment. 
But  all  Israel  did  not — the  people  as  a  people  did 

1  John  4.  22. 


J^ 


256         The  B elation  of  Messianic  Fropliccy  to 

not — participate  in  the  salvation  offered  to  them  ;  only 
a  remnant — only  a  select  company — did,  while  the 
remainder,  in  impenitent  obduracy,  rejected  salvation 
in  the  Crucified  and  Risen  One.^  Hence  the  Divine 
judgment  of  rejection  went  forth  against  Israel  as  a 
'people,  and,  as  liad  been  already  announced  by  the 
jLord  Himself,  the  Kingdom  of  God  was  given  to  the 
t  Gentiles.  The  people  of  God  continued  to  exist,  not, 
however,  in  Israel  as  a  nation,  but  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment community,  which  was  composed  of  the  "  rem- 
nant" of  Israel  and  of  believers  from  among  the 
Gentiles,  received  into  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  as  citizens 
and  members  of  the  household  of  faith.  Elements, 
thus,  that  in  the  prophetic  consciousness  appear  as 
indissolubly  united — the  conception  of  Israel  as  a 
nation  and  the  idea  of  the  people  of  God — are  separ- 
ated in  the  historical  fulfilment.  Side  by  side  witli 
Israel  as  a  nation  that,  for  the  present  world-era  at 
least,  has  ceased  to  be  the  people  of  God  and  the 
trustee  of  the  Divine  revelation  of  salvation,  there 
stands  a  people  of  God  that,  as  regards  its  first  mem- 
bers, proceeded  from  Israel  (so  fulfilling  the  prophetic 
oracle  of  the  renewal  from  the  "  renmant "),  but  yet 
owed  its  existence  chiefly  to  the  accession  of  believers 
from  among  the  Gentiles.  Who,  then,  are  the  rightful 
heirs  of  the  promises  made  to  the  covenant  people  of 
the  Old  Testament,  so  far  as  these  promises  are  yet 
unfulfilled  ?  For  that  they  remain  unfulfilled  so  long 
as  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  does  not  embrace  all  peoples, 

1  Cp.  Rom.  11.  1-10. 


New  Testament  Fidfilment.  257 

and  so  long  as  the  glory  of  the  Church  of  Christ  fails 
of  accomplishment  or  visible  presentation,  is  undeniably 
certain. — Manifestly,  the  present  rejection  of  Israel 
cannot  be  put  on  the  same  level  with  the  earlier  tem- 
porary repudiations  in  the  times  when  the  continuance 
of  the  kingdom  and  people  of  God  on  earth  was  still 
entirely  dependent  upon  the  continuance  of  the  Israel- 
itish  nation.  To  apply  the  prophecies  relating  to  these 
earlier  repudiations  baldly  to  the  present  rejection  of 
Israel,  is  to  ignore  one  of  the  most  prominent  facts  of 
historical  fulfilment,  and  the  clue  it  supplies  to  a 
proper  estimate  of  the  Divine  prophetic  word ;  and  it 
is,  as  we  have  seen,  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the 
sense  actually  attached  to  their  utterances  by  the 
prophets  themselves,  unless  we  regard  the  New  Testa- 
ment people  of  God,  and  not  the  nation  of  Israel,  as 
the  heirs  of  the  still  unfulfilled  promises  given  to  the 
covenant-people  of  the  Old  Testament.  In  the  light 
shed  upon  prophecy  by  the  history  of  fulfilment,  the 
New  Testament  people  of  God  appears  as  its  alone 
rightful  heir.  Of  Israel,  however,  it  has  to  be  said : 
The  fact  that  in  him  salvation  has  been  prepared  for 
the  whole  of  humanity,  proves  the  accomplishment  of 
the  object  of  his  election,  the  fulfilment,  once  for  all, 
of  his  vocation,  as  the  historical  bearer  of  revelation 
and  salvation.  Henceforth  he  participates  in  the 
promises  given  to  the  people  of  God  only  in  so  far  as, 
and  to  the  extent  to  which,  he  has  entered  or  is  enter- 
ing the  Church  of  Christ ;  and  his  participation  is  of 
precisely  the  same  kind,  and  subject  to  the  same  con- 

K 


258         Thf  llelalion  of  Met<sianic  Prophecy  io 

ditions,  with  Gentile  believers ;  i.e.  individual  Israelites 
have  part  in  the  promises  in  so  far  as  they  become  by 
iaitli  members  of  tlie  New  Testament  people  of  God, 
but  they  have  no  preference  before  other  members. 
On  the  other  hand,  Israel's  sli<'htin<r  as  a  nation  of  the 
day  of  his  visitation,  and  his  rejection  of  his  Messias, 
have  deprived  him  of  all  historical  function  as  regards 
salvation  and  the  Kingdom  ;  and  the  promises  of  the 
prophets  do  not  offer  him  any  prospective  restoration 
of  his  national  distinctiveness,  any  central  position  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  any  imperial  glory,  destined  for 
him  as  a  nation  and  to  be  enjoyed  in  his  own  land. 

As  against  the  objection  that,  in  the  Old  Testament 
at  least,  Israel's  election  is  represented  as  of  eternal 
validity,  it  has  to  be  remembered,  first,  that  the  Israel- 
itish  descent  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  rise  of  the 
Christian  Church  from  the  bosom  of  Israel,  lend  an 
eternal  and  far-reaching  importance  to  the  fact  of 
Israel's  election.  The  case  is  an  exact  parallel  to  that 
of  the  election  of  the  house  of  David,  of  which  the  Old 
Testament  speaks  in  similar  terms,  and  whicli,  in 
Christ's  birth  as  the  son  of  David,  proves  itself  to  have 
happened  once  for  all.  But,  secondly,  in  reference  to 
the  rejection  of  Israel  as  a  nation,  it  has  to  be  main- 
tained that  in  the  Divine  word  of  the  Old  Testament 
there  is  an  adh-Oluui  (for  ever)  that  is  meant  only 
relatively,^  and  another  which  the  Old  Testament 
writers  mean  to  be  taken  absolutely,  but  which,  in  the 
further  course  of  the  history  of  salvation,  is  lowered  to 
'  Cp.  e.g.  Isa.  3-_'.  14. 


New  Testament  Fidjilment.  259 

a  position  of  relative  validity,  i.e.  reveals  itself  as,  iii 
God's  decree,  meant  only  relatively.  Such  is  the  case 
with  the  eternal  priesthood  of  the  house  of  Aaron  and 
its  annexed  eternal  prerogatives;^  with  the  eternal 
election  of  Jerusalem  as  Jehovah's  dwelling-place ; 
with  the  election  for  ever  of  the  nation  of  Israel. 
The  faithful  covenant -God  retains  this  election  in 
validity  up  to  the  moment  of  His  people's  attaining, 
under  His  conduct,  their  predestined  goal  as  implied 
in  that  election ;  hut  the  "  election  for  ever "  can 
never,  after  the  attainment  of  this  goal,  confine  the 
reference  of  the  further  execution  of  His  saving  pur- 
pose to  a  people  who,  through  their  rejection  of  the 
offered  salvation,  have  hecome  incapable  of  serving  as 
the  human  organ  of  its  dissemination,  and  in  whose 
stead  He  has  prepared  Himself  another  organ  in  the 
New  Testament  people  of  God. 

This  view  of  the  case  is  supported  by  tJie  testimony 
of  the  Neio  Testament.  Undoubtedly  the  latter  asserts 
throughout  that  the  promises  of  God  were  given  in 
the  first  instance  to  the  people  of  Israel,  and  that 
therefore  their  fulfilment  also,  the  salvation  in  Christ, 
must  be  offered,  and  in  the  truth  and  faithfulness  of 
God  was  offered,  in  the  first  instance  to  Israel,  while 
the  offer  to  the  Gentiles,  to  whom  God  had  given  no 
covenant-promises,  resulted  from  pure  mercy.-  The 
same  is  notoriously  asserted  both  in  word  and  deed  by 

1  Cp.  e.ij.  Ex.  40.  15,  Num.  18.  19,  25.  13  ;  also  Jer.  33.  18  ff. 
-  Cp.  the  contrast  between  the  hyper  aletheias  Theofi  and  the  hypf^r 
ele'ous  (for  the  sake  of  God's  ti'iitli,  .  .   .     mercy)  in  Kom.  15.  8  f. 


\ 


260         Tltc  Relation  of  Messianic  Propliccy  to 

the  apostle  of  the  circumcision^  as  well  as  by  the 
apostle  of  the  (lentiles.^  But  both  are  equally  unani- 
mous in  the  opinion  that,  since  the  origin  of  the 
community  of  Jesus  Christ,  it  is  no  longer  Israel  as  a 
nation,  but  this  community  gathered  from  him  and 
from  the  Gentiles,  who  compose  the  chosen,  holy, 
priestly,  peculiar  people  of  God.^  They  are  the  true 
Fsrael  of  God,*  the  true  seed  of  Abraham,*  and  hence 
the  promises  given  to  the  Old  Testament  covenant- 
people  are  considered  as  available  for  them  and  as 
fulfilling  themselves  in  them/'  That  within  the  New 
Testament  community  a  Jewish  or  a  Gentile  origin 
makes  no  sort  of  difference  as  regards  participation  in 
the  salvation  offered  in  Christ  and  the  conditions 
annexed  to  participation,  that  much  rather  those  who 
were  formerly  heathen  are  fully  qualified  fellow- 
citizens  with  the  saints,  and  fellow-heirs  of  the  promises 
given  to  the  seed  of  Abraham,  is  often  enough  expressly 
taught  by  the  Apostle  Paul.'  It  is  precisely  in  this 
perfect  equalising  of  Gentile  and  Jew  in  the  Kingdom 
of  Christ  on  tlie  ground  of  the  immediacy  of  the 
former's  relation    to   Christ   and   to   God,   and   of   his 

1  Cp.  e.<j.  Acts  2.  39,  3.  25  L 

■  Cp.  e.Jf.  Acts  13.  46,  Rom.  1.  lb",  3.  1  f. 

•'  Cp.  1  ret.  2.  9  f.,  Rom.  9.  24  ff,,  2  Cor.  6.  16,  Tit.  2.  14.  Even 
AuBEUi.EN  cannot,  of  course,  deny  this  ;  but  he  is  of  opinion  tliat  the 
case  stands  thus  oidy  "in  the  present  worUl-era,  in  wliicli  Israel  is 
ii'jectei.1"  {Abhaud/nng,  p.  803). 

'*  Gal.  6.  16,  Rom.  9.  6  If. 

■■•  Uom.  4.  16  ff.,  Gal.  3.  7.  29,  4.  28. 

f'  Cp.  the  citations  from  Kom.  9.  25  f.,  2  Cor.  6.  2,  16-18,  Gal.  4.  27. 

■  Cp.  Rom.  3.  29  f.,  10.  12,  1  Cor.  12.  13,  Gal.  3.  28  f.,  6.  15,  Eph. 
2.  11-22,  Col.  3.  11. 


Netv  Testament  Fulfilment.  261 

participation  in  salvation  anil  the  promises,  now  that 
the  hitherto  'prevalent  ethnico-Israelitish  character  of  the 
Theocracy  was  entirely  removed,  that  the  new  apprehension 
regarding  the  calling  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  Kingdom , 
of  Christ  consists — of  which  the  Apostle  Paul  says, 
that  it  was  not  made  known  to  the  former  generations 
(Epk  3.  5),  inasmuch  as,  up  to  this  time,  the  entrance 
of  the  Gentiles  into  the  kingdom  of  God  appeared 
always  more  or  less  as  an  entrance,  at  the  same  time, 
into  the  national  communion  of  Israel,  and  their 
j)articipation  in  salvation  seemed  to  be  mediated  by 
its  true  recipient,  Israel.' — With  these  unambiguous 
testimonies  of  the  New  Testament  no  sort  of  media- 
torial priestly  position  of  converted  Israel  is  at  all 
reconcilable.  On  the  other  hand,  we  have  not  found  in 
them,  as  yet,  any  absolute  exclusion  of  the  possibility 
of  Israel's  taking,  in  spite  of  the  equalisation  above 
referred  to,  as  a  nation  the  foremost  place  in  tlie 
organism  of  the  perfected  Kingdom  of  Christ.  In  this 
connexion,  and  not  without  reason,  the  relation  between 
Jew  and. Gentile  has  been  compared  with  that  between 
man  and  wife.-  But  the  Xew  Testament  would,  in 
that  case,  necessarily  require  to  attest  this  preference, 
still  in  store  for  the  Jewish  nation,  with  the  same 
clearness  and  freedom  from  ambiguity  with  which  it 
attests  the  perfect  equalising  of  Jew  and  Gentile. 
We  should  expect  such  a  testimony  preeminently  in 

1  Only  ill  Isa.  19.  19  ff.,  and  pos.sibl}'  also  Zepli.  2.  11,  this  limit  to 
the  prophetic  apprehension  of  the  entrance  of  the  Gentiles  into  the 
kingdom  of  God  is  to  some  e.xteiit  broken  throngh. 

-  Cp.  AuBERLEN,  Dtr  Prophet  Daniel,  pp.  390  f. 


262         Thf  Rdatioa  of  Mcsdnnic  Prophecy  to 

tlie  Apocalypse,  the  prophetic  book  of  the  Xew  Testa- 
ment. ]>at  just  here  we  look  for  it  in  vain.  This 
book  tells  indeed  of  144,000  servants  of  God,  clwscn 
from  the  ticclvc  tribes  of  Israel,  who,  preserved  in  the 
impending  judgments,  shall  enter  the  glorified  kingdom 
as  conquerors,  as  distinguished  from  the  innumerable 
company  of  those  who  have  "  overcome  "  from  among 
all  peoples  of  the  earth ;  ^  but  in  the  delineation  of  the 
last  stages  in  the  development  of  the  Kingdom,  as  it 
liastens  to  its  accomplishment,  particularly  in  the 
announcement  of  the  ^Millennial  kingdom,  no  account 
whatever  is  taken  of  the  difference  between  Israel  and 
^  the  heathen,  nor  is  there,  in  general,  any  mention  of 
converted  Israel,  albeit  the  names  of  the  twelve  tribes 
— as  also  that  of  Jerusalem — and  many  features  of 
the  prophecies,  which  treat  of  Israel's  imperial  glory, 
are  employed  in  the  description  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ  in  its  perfected  heavenly  form.  The  assertion, 
that  the  gap  of  the  Apocalypse  is  to  he  filed  vp  from 
Old  Testament  prophecy,  has  in  reality  only  the  worth 
of  an  acknowledgment  of  this  state  of  the  case."     The 

'  Kev.  7.  4  ir. 

-  HoyMANN  in  loc.  c'd.  p.  656.  AunEiiLKN,  Dtr  Prophet  Daniel, 
Ist  wl.  i)p.  341  f.  The  attempts  to  explain  tliis  remarkable  silence  of 
the  Apocalypse  are  as  unsatisfactory  as  possible.  Very  naive  is  the 
followinj,',  inter  alia,  remark  of  Auberlen's :  "The  Apocalypse  was 
intended  fur  the  Gentile  Christian  period  ;  its  design  is  to  communicate 
t<t  the  New  Testament  community,  gathered  as  it  was  chietly  from 
the  (icntiles,  what  is  necessary  for  it  to  know  in  its  pilgrimage  through 
tiie  desert;  it  is  its  guide-book;  it  has  to  describe  its  fortunes.  In 
view  of  this  limited  design  no  special  account  can  be  taken  of  Israel 
as  a  nation."  As  if  it  were  not  of  the  greatest  conseipience  for  tho 
Cientile  Church   to  know  that  she  may  expect  the  full   blessing  of 


Nnv  Testament  Fulfilment.  263 

facts  themselves  convey  the  decisive  proof  that  the 
seer  in  the  Apocalypse,  who  surely  had  some  skill  in 
the  "  realism  "  of  Scripture,  and  believed  in  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  promises  of  the  faithful  covenant  God, 
could  not  have  understood  Old  Testament  prophecy  as 
placing  in  prospect  a  fact  of  such  importance  to  the 
history  of  the  Kingdom  as  the  reinstatement  of  the 
nation  of  Israel  in  its  central  position  in  that  Kingdom. 
— It  is  alleged,  however,  that  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles 
gives  us  precisely  what  is  lacking  in  the  Apocalypse. 
And  certainly,  in  the  passage  referred  to,  the  apostle 
does  announce  in  the  most  definite  manner  that  Israel's 
obduracy  will  last  only  until  the  full  number  of  the 
Gentiles  have  entered  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  that 
then  (dl  Israel  will  be  converted  and  saved.  Here 
then  we  have  a  hopeful  prophecy  for  the  still  im- 
penitent totality  of  Israel  —  a  prophecy,  moreover, 
which  is  supported  and  confirmed  by  an  appeal  to  a 
promise  of  full  f orgi  ^^eness,  given  to  the  Old  Testament 


communion  with  GoJ,  and  the  true  spiritual  revival  only  after  the 
conversion  and  restoration  of  Israel  as  a  people  !  In  the  2ud  ed.  p.  385 
this  passage  is  omitted,  and  the  whole  stress  is  laid  upon  the  144,000 
of  Rev.  7.  4  ff.  {vid.  sup.)  and  upon  "the  grand  general  confirmation 
of  all  Old  Testament  prophecy"  in  Rev.  10.  7.  But  this  "general 
confirmation  "  will  have,  we  should  suppose,  to  be  understood  in  the 
sense  which  the  succeeding  jtrophocy  of  the  Apocalypse  itself  naturally 
suggests. 

1  In  Rom.  11.  25  ff.,  ep.  ver.  15.  We  omit  utterances  of  Christ  such 
as  Matt.  19.  28,  23.  39,  24.  34,  which  have  been  used  to  support  the 
same  position,  as  a  candid  exegesis  altogether  fails  to  show  that  they 
contain  a  prophecy  of  a  future  national  restoration  of  Israel.  Cp.  on 
them  Bleek,  Synoptische  ErUaruinj  der  drei  emicn  Ermigelien,  ii. 
pp.  272  and  382. 


264         TliC  Ildation  of  Mcmanic  Prophecy  to 

covenant  people,'  as  well  as  by  tlie  fact  that,  witli 
reference  to  Israel's  election,  the  Jews  are  "  beloved 
for  their  fathers'  sake,"  for  the  "  gifts  and  calling  of 
God "  {i.e.  His  calling  to  salvation)  "  are  without 
repentance."  Thus  in  fact,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  the  apostle,  Israel's  election  and  the  promise  given 
to  him  remain  in  force  even  for  the  people  who  are 
at  present  rejected ;  the  Israelites  have  not  forfeited 
lor  ever  their  natural  rights  as  the  next  heirs  to  a 
Kingdom  of  God  founded  amongst  them  and  for  them ; 
in  the  end  they  also  will  have  their  part  in  it.  Still, 
let  us  beware  of  introducing  into  the  text  what  is 
really  not  there.  The  apostle  certainly  speaks  of 
Israel's  totality,  but  the  expression  'jpds  Israel  (all 
Israel)  by  no  means  necessarily  implies  the  giving  of 
any  special  prominence  to  the  Israelitish  nationality, 
as  an  organism  confined  within  itself,  compact  in  the 
unity  of  a  state,  and  thus  asserting  its  national  idio- 
syncrasy. Further,  the  apostle  certainly  speaks  of 
Israel's  reinstatement  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  of  their 
rescue,  of  their  renewed  pardon,  but  we  read  nothing 
of  an  historical  mission  of  salvation  -which  Israel  is 
then  to  fulfil,  or  of  a  central  position  which  he  shall 
occupy  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  or  of  a  special  imperial 
glory  with  whicli  he  shall  be  invested  ;  nor  is  there 
one  word  of  his  being  gathered  into  the  Holy  Land, 
or    of    the    restitution    of     an     Israelitish    kingdom.- 

1  Isa.  59.  20  f.  ;  cp.  27.  P. 

-  That  Paul  promises  repentant  Lsrael  yet  another  missionary  funetion 
in  tlie  liistory  of  salvation,  is  sought  to  he  proved,  partly  from  the  ex- 
pression charismata  (gifts),  ver.  20,  partly  from  the  words  lis  hejyroslPpi^if 


Nevj  Testament  Falfilmcnt.  265 

111  this  reference,  its  full  weight  should  be  allowed 
to  the  fact,  that,  of  the  promises  given  to  Israel,  the 
apostle  chooses  for  citation  just  one  of  those  which 
offer  Israel  the  prospect  of  forgiveness  and  restored 
favour,  but  not  of  special  glory.  To  whom,  it  might 
be  asked,  moreover,  would  Israel  fulfil  his  alleged 
further  prophetic  and  priestly  calling  in  the  way 
promised  in  Old  Testament  prophecy  ?  Does  not 
the  apostle  expressly  place  his  conversion  and  re- 
acceptance  in  the  time  when  the  fall  number  of  tlw 
Gentiles  have  already  entered  the  Kingdom  of  God !  ^ 
So  far ,  indeed,  from  being  aware  of  any  saving 
mediatorial  mission,  which  converted  Israel  should 
have  to  fulfil  towards  the  Gentiles,  he  regards,  on 
the  contrary,  the  rich  revelation  of  the  Divine  mercy 

ci  me  zoe  elc  nehrdn  ("what  the  receiving  of  them,"  etc.),  ver.  15.  The 
former  expression,  however,  cannot  in  the  context  in  which  it  occurs 
denote  special  g\its  of  grace  imparted  to  Israel /o;-  the  fulfilment  of  hi'< 
calling,  but  only  the  blessings  of  salvation  which  belong  to  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  (Charismata,  as  in  Rom.  5.  15  f.  6.  23  ;  it  can  hardly  be  trans- 
lated "exhibitions  of  grace,"  as  the  LXX.  never  renders  the  Hebrew 
chdsddhim—\v\\ic\i  is  used  in  this  sense — by  charlamata,  but  by  tci  elee 
(compassions)  or  the  like. )  And  the  latter  expression  (the  lis  he,  etc. ,  ver. 
15) — however  we  choose  to  understand  the  zoe  ek  nekron  (on  which  see 
Meyek) — does  not,  at  any  rate,  imply  that  life  from  the  dead  is  to 
proceed  from  Israel,  in  virtue  of  his  exercising  a  mediatorial  function 
in  reference  to  salvation,  but  only  that  the  conversion  and  reacceptance 
of  Israel  must  precede  the  accomplishment  of  salvation. 

1  Opposed  to  this  is  the  view  given  in  Aubeklen's  sketch  of  the 
consequences  of  Israel's  restitution:  "There  is  no  longer  anjMieed 
of  a  toilsome  pursuit  of  the  Gentiles,  they  come  in  of  themselves, 
attracted  by  the  sight  of  the  rich  gifts  of  the  Divine  revelation  of 
grace"  {Der  Prophet  Daniel,  p.  402).  And:  "Israel  is  to  be  a 
kingdom  of  priests,  bringing  salvation  to  all  peoples "  [Ahhaiidl. 
p.  835). 


2G6         The  Relation  of  }[i'ssianic  Prophecy  to 

to  tlic  Gentiles  as  the  first  means  by  which  Israel  is 
led  to  repentance  witli  a  view  to  participation  in 
tlie  same  mercy.^  Obviously,  tluis,  the  prospect  of 
restoration  offered  to  Israel  is  only  one  of  those 
promises  to  wliicli  the  saying  is  applicable:  "The 
first  shall  be  last."  '^  As  is  perfectly  apparent  from 
Iiom.  11.  32,  it  hangs  together  with  the  prophecy — 
once  and  again  repeated  by  Paul — of  the  ultimate 
unqualified  universality  of  the  possession  of  salvation, 
account  being  taken,  liowever,  of  the  fact  that,  in 
Israel's  case,  the  common  hope  has  speeial  supjyorts  in 
his  election  and  the  promises  committed  to  him. 
Israel's  election  and  the  promises  given  to  him 
remain  thus  in  force  for  the  people,  wlio  have  been 
rejected  because  of  their  obduracy, /ws;!  so  far  as  they 
guarantee  that  Israel  has  not  been  cast  away  for  ever, 
lias  not  forfeited  irrecoverably  the  salvation  in  Christ, 
Ijut  will  eventually  liave  his  own  share  in  it.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  special  preference  is  promised  even  in 
Jiom.  11   to  converted  Israel  above  Gentile  believers.^ 


1  Rom.  11.  31,  cp.  vv.  11  and  14. 

-  Cp.  Bkkthkau  in  he.  cit.  (1859)  p.  325:  "In  the  few  passagt-s 
[of  the  New  Testament]  whicli  allow  ns  to  glance  at  Israel's  future, 
he  does  not  ai)j)ear  as  a  triumi)hant  first-fruits  among  the  peoples  who 
])articiiiate  in  tlie  hliss  of  the  Divine  Kingdom,  but  as  one  born  late, 
who  yet,  by  God's  grace,  is  allowed  a  share  in  the  beatification." 

•'  The  fact  of  the  national  continuity  of  Israel  in  his  dispersion 
cannot,  in  these  circumstances,  prove  that  some  further  historical 
ndssion  for  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  in  store  for  that  nation.  We  do 
not  need  to  ask  here  the  historical  reason  and  ground  of  this 
continuity,  or  to  enter  upon  the  question,  how  long  it  may  yet  be 
expected  to  last.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  Rom.  11,  along  with  other 
New   Testament  passages,  shows  the   facts  in   a  different   light   by 


New  2\'stamcnt  Ftdfilment.  267 

The  clearest  and  weightiest  attestation  of  the  above 
argument  on  the  relation  of  Israel  as  a  nation  to  the 
New  Testament  Theocracy  (pp.  256  ff.),  is  that  offered 
by  the  Gospel  of  John.- — ^For  this  Gospel  is  wholly 
dominated  by  the  view  that,  because  of  their  slighting 
the  Messianic  salvation  manifested  in  Christ,  the 
Jews,  as  a  nation,  have  ceased  to  be  the  people  of 
God,  have  become,  on  the  contrary,  the  type  of  the 
God-estranged  world,  and  that  their  place  is  occupied 
by  a  community  compacted  without  regard  to  the 
nationality  of  its  members — that,  viz.,  of  those  who 
have  become  children  of  God  through  Christ.^ — The 
J^ew  Testament  thus  both  sanctions  and  demands  our 
distinguishing,  in  the  prophetic  oracle  of  the  future 
imperial  glory  of  Israel  in  his  own  land,  between  the 
Old  Testament  mode  of  presentation  and  the  eternal 
saving  thoughts  of  (Jod,  The  Israelitish  descent  of 
the  Saviour  of  the  world,  the  organico  -  historic 
connexion  of  the  New  Testament  people  of  God 
with  Israel,  the  conservation  of  Israel's  priority  of 
claim  to  the  promised  salvation,  serve  as  the  historical 
fulfilment  of  this  oracle,  and  attest  it  as  one  in 
harmony  with  the  purpose  of  God.  In  so  far,  how- 
ever, as  it  remains  yet  unfulfilled,  it  must,  regarded  in 

representing  the  Jewish  nation  as  affording,  iirst  of  all,  by  its  rejec- 
tion of  salvation  in  Christ,  an  example  of  Divine  judgment,  but, 
nitimately,  an  all  the  more  brilliant  example  of  His  mercy  and 
faithfulness. 

'  Cp.  A.  H.  Fraxke,  Dan  AUe  Testament  bei  Johannes,  1885,  p]i. 
17  ff.,  243  ff.,  and  my  remarks  in  the  Studien  unci  Kritiken,  1885 
j.p.  .^66  ff. 


2G8         TIlc  lltiation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

the  light  of  tlie  New  Covenant  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment word  of  God,  be  assigned,  like  other  prophecies, 
to  the  realm  of  the  typico-Messianic.  It  is  in  harmony 
with  the  Divine  intention,  in  the  scheme  of  historical 
revelation,  that  all  the  utterances  of  prophecy,  which 
in  their  liistorical  sense  speak  of  the  imperial  glory 
of  Israel  in  the  last  times,  should  be  referred  to 
the  future  glorious  manifestation  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  the  New  Testament  people  of  God;  and  the 
fact  that  prophecy  assigns  the  prospect  of  tliis  glory 
to  Israel,  is  only  an  Old  Testament  veil  of  the  Uivim^ 
saving  thoughts.^ 

A  view,  largely  supported  in  modern  times  (thougli 
by  no  meams  solidly  founded),"-'  to  the  effect  that  the 
Davidic  descent  of  Christ  cannot  be  maintained  from 
the  standpoint  of  a  critical  examination  of  the 
evangelic  history,  suggests  at  once  the  (|uestion, 
whether  the  Davidic  descent  of  the  Messias  is  not  one 
of  those  Old  Testament  envisaging  forms  by  which 
prophecy  abides,  but  to  whicli  New  Testament  ful- 
filment    warrants     us    in    assigning    only    a     typico- 

'  In  spite,  therefore,  of  its  unhistorical  c-liavai'ter,  tlic  old  (.luirLlily 
view  of  these  pro[>hecie.s,  whicli  Henostexhei'.c.  revived  (particularly 
ill  his  paper,  "Die  Juden  uiid  die  christliclie  Kirehe,"  Evauij. 
Kirchenzeitumj,  May  1857),  is  essentially  correct  as  regards  its  main 
result,  and  is  vastly  preferable  to  the  Judaising  view  we  have  lieeii 
discussing.  The  remark  of  Keil  is  much  to  the  point:  "  Throiiffh 
Christ  the  promise  in  exalted  from  its  thnen-forni  to  its  essence,  through 
Him  the  whole  earth  becomes  Canaan "  (GVnc.v/-*,  \k  146,2nd  ed.). 
Cp.  also  the  detailed  discussion  of  the  whole  (juestion  in  the  same 
author's  Commentary  on  Erj-k.  pp.  347  fl'.  and  497  11'. 

-  The  verdict  even  of  Kkim,  Geschichte  Jem  roii  Xu'ara,  i.  pp. 
326  ff.  [Eiig.  Transl.  vol.  ii.  pp.  25  ff.]. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  269 

symbolical  significance.  In  the  attempt  to  answer 
this  question  affirmatively  reference  might  be  made 
to  the  disentanglement  of  the  Messianic  prospects 
from  the  Davidic  kingship,  and  the  appropriation  to 
the  people  of  God  of  the  promises  of  grace,  given  to 
David,  which  we  find  in  Deutero-Isaiah,  as  well  as 
to  the  fact  that  in  Daniel  the  Messias  is  not  character- 
ised as  the  son  of  David ;  and  these  facts  might  be 
thought  to  imply  a  favourable  witness  from  the  Old 
Testament  itself  to  the  conclusion  sought  to  be 
established.^  The  previous  course  of  our  argument, 
liowever,  carries  with  it  both  the  fact  and  the  reason 
of  a  negative  answer.  The  Davidic  descent  of  the 
Messias  is  on  the  same  footing  with  the  requirement 
that  salvation  should  come  from  the  Jews.  It  was 
the  fulfilment  required  to  do  justice  to  the  election 
of  a  royal  Davidic  house,  and  to  the  promises  given 
to  it,  on  which  the  truth  and  faithfulness  of  God  were 
staked. — On  the  other  hand,  there  are  certainly  other 
more  isolated  features  in  the  Messianic  prophecies  in 
whose  case  the  essence  of  the  prophecy  is  exhibited 
in  severance  from  its  temporary  mode  of  presentation 
only  in  the  fulfilment.  In  this  connexion  Malachi's 
prophecy  deserves  special  mention,  that  the  prophet 
Elias  will,  as  preparer  of  the  way,  precede  a  God  who 
is  coming  for  judgment  and  the  accomplishment  of 
salvation.-  For  the  prophet  can  hardly  have  called 
the  preparer  of  the  way  Elias  merely  in  a  sense 
parallel  to  tliat  of  the  name  David  {i.e.  a  second  David), 

1  C'li.  p[i.  191  tr.  -  Mai.  4,  5  f.  ;  cp.  3.  1. 


270         The  Relation  of  Messianic  rrophmj  to 

as  baldly  applied  to  the  Messias  ;  ^  the  expectation, 
rather,  of  the  personal  return  of  Julias,  v:]io  had  not 
died,  hut  had  hcen  withdrawn  to  heaven, — an  expecta- 
tion widely  diffused  even  in  the  time  of  Christ,  and 
prevalent  among  Jews,  Mohammedans,  and  Christians, 
(till  the  Eeformation),  —  appears  to  be  in  entire 
accordance  with  the  meaning  of  the  prophet.  Tiiat, 
however,  this  prophecy  was  fulfilled  in  John  the 
Baptist,  is  notoriously  attested,  not  only  by  the  evan- 
gelists, whose  report  of  the  appearance  and  preaching 
of  John  carefully  emphasises  his  resemblance  to 
Elias,  but  also  by  the  Lord  Himself  in  repeated 
expressions.-  Here  also,  in  the  light  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment fulfilment,  the  essential  ideal  substance  of  the 
prophecy  is  separated  from  the  typico-symbolical  envis- 
aging form  in  which  it  was  realised  in  the  consciousness 
of  the  prophet.  In  His  significant  ei  thdete  dexastliai^ 
Matt.  11.  14,  Christ  Himself  draws  attention  to  tlie 
contrast  between  the  interpretation  of  prophecy  that 
is  captive  to  its  literal  historical  sense,  and  that 
understanding  which  grasps  its  essential  substance,  and 
hence  does  not  fail  to  mark  a  fulfilment  already  •pn'^t} 

1  Hos.  3.  5,  Jer.  30.  9,  Ezek.  84.  23,  37.  -24. 

2  Matt.  11.  14,  17.  10  ff.  '  //2/e  n-ill  receive  U. 

*  It  is  remarkable  that  the  advocates  of  the  Jiulaising  view  of  the 
prophecies  of  Israel's  imperial  glory  have  not  included  the  personal 
return  of  Elias  among  their  eschatological  expectations  (ei).,  however, 
IloKMANN  in  loc.  cit.  ii.  p.  103) — the  more  that  they  would  have  on 
their  side  the  view,  prevalent  in  the  Church  till  the  Refonnation, 
according  to  which  the  fullilment  in  John  the  I'aptist  is  only 
temporary,  while  the  jierfect  fullilment  is  to  take  place  immediately 
before  the  Parousia.  Christ,  however,  would  certainly  use  His  c» 
thelete  d^xasthai  to  point  the  contrast  between  the  fullilment  of  tin; 


New  Teslamcnt  Fuljilment.  271 

4.  The  proof,  however,  of  the  incongruity  between 
Old  Testament  prophecy  and  New  Testament  fulfil- 
ment, which  results  from  the  times  -  adapted  and 
specifically  Old  Testament  elements  which  prophecy 
contains,  i.e.  from  its  symbolico  -  typical  character, 
gives  by  no  means  a  complete  view  of  the  difference 
between  the  two  factors  at  present  under  comparison. 
Besides  this  incongruity,  there  are  other  respects  in 
which  Messianic  prophecy  fails  to  exhibit  any  full  i 
appreliendoii  of  the  Divine  purpose  which  attains 
accomplishment  in  the  New^  Covenant.  That  purpose 
is  fully  revealed  only  in  its  actual  carrying  out.  One 
main  ground— though  not  the  only  one — of  this 
imperfection  lies  in  the  fact  that,  by  its  method  of 
starting  at  different  times  from  different  ideas,  con- 
tained in  the  Old  Testament  religion  and  embodied  in 
the  Old  Testament  theocracy,  and  developing  thence 
their  several  Messianic  contents,^  prophecy  succeeds  in. 
apprehending,  under  manifold  combinations,  07ik/  indi- 
vidual fragnicntary  moments  of  the  sai-in<j  p)urpose  of  God, 
without  heing  able  to  exhibit  them  in  the  connexion  in 
ivhich,  ill  the  fulfilment,  they  arc  compacted  into  a 
uniform  whole.  What  the  Apostle  Paul  says  of  New 
Testament  prophecy :  ek  merous  propheteuomen^^  is 
true  in  a  much  greater  measure  of  that  of  the  Old 
Testament.     The   polumcros    of    Heb.    1.    1  *   is   very 

prophecies  of  Israel's  imperial  glory  and  mediatorial  vocation  in 
Himself  and  His  community,  and  their  confinement  to  their  literal 
historical  sense. 

^  Cp.  pp.  175  ff.  -  We.  prophesy  in  part,  1  Cor.  13.  9. 

*  In  many  partii,  cp.  my  Lehrb&griJ'ikfi  Hclmiei'hriefes,  pp.  89  and  92. 


272  Tltc  llclation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

marked  even  in  its  Messianic  prophecy/  AVe  shall 
endeavour  —  within  the  limits  of  our  space  —  to 
exhihit,  by  a  reference  to  the  salient  points,  the 
extent  to  which  a  knowledge  of  the  saving 
purpose  of  (lod,  which  is  realised  in  the  New 
Covenant,  was  already  implied  in  Old  Testament 
prophecy,  and  the  extent  to  which  the  latter  falls 
short  of  the  sublimity  and  wealth  of  New  Testament 
fulfilment, 

(o)  The  prophecy  that  comes  nearest  the  New 
Testament,  as  regards  apprehension  of  saving  truth,  is 
that  concerning  the  final  condition  of  the  2>cople  and 
kingdom  of  God.  Although  it  is  often,  especially  in 
the  oldest  prophecies,  the  external  side  of  the  Messianic 
salvation — which,  however,  is  always  regarded  as  the 
consequence  and  blessing  of  a  perfected  communion 
with  God — that  is  made  prominent,  it  happens,  never- 
theless, not  unfrequently  that  the  spiritual  salvation 
in  which  the  people  of  God  participate  in  the  last  days 
receives  the  chief  place.  In  particular  :  the  complete 
and  universal /or^mwcss  of  sins,  as  the  result  of  a  new 
and  all-sufficient  exhibition  of  the  pardoning  grace  of 
God,  and  the  thorough  ctldco-rcligious  rcneiccd  of  hearts 
and  of  the  entire  public  life,  in  consequence  of  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  all  the  members  of 
the  nation  without  exception,  and  of  His  indwelling 
in  hearts,  advance  steadily  with  the  development  of 
Messianic  prophecy  to  the  position  of  the  chief  saving 

'  Cp.  Okmi.ki!,  art.  "  Wei.ssa},iii)!,' "' in  Hi:i;/ak;'s  Rcal-Encyklopdd'w, 
xvii.  ji.  \ShT).      'J'h(o/oiii(  dex  Altni  TrstaoK ii/cs,  ii.  ^  -JIG. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  27  3 

benefits  of  the  Messianic  era.^  The  covenant  -  com- 
munion of  Israel  with  Jehovah  culminates  in  an 
immediate  personal  comnmnion  of  love  hetivccn  all  indi-  [ 
viduals  and  God,  Who  then  dwells  substantially  and  for- 
ever in  the  midst  of  His  pecple,  reveals  Himself  in  all 
the  fulness  of  His  glory  and  grace  for  all,  and  in  the 
diffusion  of  salvation  and  blessin"  manifests  His  gracious 
presence  in  full  measure ;  Who  also,  in  particular,  by 
the  mighty  workings  of  His  Spirit,  immediately  en- 
lightens and  rules  all  individuals,  making  them  His 
organs,  adapted  habitually  to  share  His  confidence  and 
receive  His  revelations,  so  that  only  the  extraordinary 
experiences  of  the  Spirit's  work  and  of  revelation 
which  occurred  in  the  peculiar  domain  of  prophecy, 
can  serve  to  illustrate  what  will  then  be  the  common 
experience  of  all.^  Then  the  people  of  God  will 
become  a  people  truly  holy  in  all  its  members,^  a 
priestly  people,^  a  congregation  of  the  riyhteons,^  chil- 
dren of  the  liviny  God.^  The  law  will  no  longer  stand 
between  God  and  His  people  in  the  form  of  civil 
statutes  externally  imposed ;  but  it  will  be  written  on 
the  hearts  of  all  by  the  Spirit,  i.e.  every  one  will  then 
bear  within  himself  a  clear  living  knowledge  of  the  will 
of  God,  which  will  serve  as  a  powerful  inward  impulse 

1  Cp.  esp.  Joel  2.  28  ff.,  Isa.  29.  18.  24,  30.  19  flf.,  32.  3  f,  1.5,  33. 
24,  Micah  7.  18  fi".,  Zech.  12.  10,  13.  1  if.,  .Ter.  3.  21  ff.,  24.  7,  31, 
29  ff,  32.  39  f.,  33.  8,  50.  20,  Ezek.  11.  19  f.,  16.  63,  30.  25  ff.,  37. 
23,  39,  29,  Isa.  44.  3. 

-  Cp.  Joel  2.  28  ff.,  Hos.  2,  18  ff.,  Jer.  31.  31  ff ,  Isa.  45.  7-10.  13, 
65.  24. 

••'  Isa,  4.  3,  35.  8,  Dan.  7.  18.  22,  27.  •*  Isa.  61.  6,  66.  21, 

'"  Isa,  60.  18.  21.  '•  Hos.  1.  10. 

S 


274         Tlic  Pidation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

towards  a  godly  life,  and  thus  the  New  Covenant  will 
be  an  eternal  covenant,  not  exposed  to  any  risk  of 
dissolution  through  the  people's  unfaithfulness.^  This 
perfecting  of  covenant- coniniunion  involves  a  funda- 
mental alteration  of  the  entire  Old  Testament  ritual  of 
worship — even  of  the  entire  Old  Testament  economy. 
The  position  and  function  of  a  special  priesthood  and 
prophecy -as  the  mediators  of  salvation  and  revelation, 
the  limitation  of  the  gracious  presence  and  revelation  of 
Jehovah  to  the  external  sanctuary  of  the  temple,  and 
the  external  worship,  consisting  in  the  offering  of  animal- 
sacrifices,  fall  awny  as  things  that  belong  only  to  the 
present  still  imperfect  form  of  covenant-communion.^ 
— In  these  deep  glances — noticeable  very  specially 
in  Jeremiali — into  the  essence  of  perfected  communion 
with  God,  as  regards  its  difference  from  what  had 
previously  prevailed,  there  is  implied  the  farther  per- 
ception, that  the  Kivf/dom  of  God  will  no  longer  be  first 
and  foremost  a  politico-national  theocracy,  but  pre- 
eminently a  spiritual  Kingdom,  the  communion  of 
those  who  have  communion  with  God.  Elsewhere, 
however,  it  is  chiefly  depicted  with  reference,  in  addi- 
tion, to  the  external  form  which  it  will  ultimately 
acquire  as  a  Kingdom  in  which  God  Himself  conducts 
the  government  in  a  far  more  perfect  way  than  in  the 
(existing  theocracy.  It  is  then,  as  the  people  of  God, 
holy,  thoroughly  pur i lied  of  all  that  characterises  the 

'  ,Ier.  31.  ;]1  II".,  32.  40.  -  Prophetentum. 

'.For.  31,34,  Isa.  54.  13,  01.  G,  QQ.   21.— Jer.  3.    16  f.— Ho.s.   14.  2, 
I.sa.  56.  7. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  275 

kingdoms  of  the  world,  all  that  it  embraces  is  sub- 
ordinated to  the  holy  will  of  Jehovah,  and  devoted  to 
His  service  ;^  in  it  will  reign  right  and  righteousness, 
truth  and  peace.  Its  holiness,  further,  will  manifest 
itself  externally  in  perfected  gloj-y,-  and  to  the  spiritual 
salvation  of  perfected  communion  with  God  there  will 
correspond  the  richest  fulness  of  earthly  blessings, — a 
stream  of  blessing  proceeding  from  a  God  who  dwells 
in  the  midst  of  His  people,  fulfils  all  the  longings  and 
yearnings  of  the  human  heart,  and  gives  life  and  full 
satisfaction.^ — Those  whom  the  law  excludes  from  the 
community  of  Israel  will  also  have  part  in  the  destined 
salvation.*  But  especially  it  is  decreed  that  all  peoples 
shall  have  part  in  it,  for  they  will  be  incorporated 
with  the  people  of  God,  and  the  Kingdom  of  God  will 
become  a  universal  theocracy,  extending  itself  over 
the  whole  earth.^  For  even  Old  Testament  prophecy 
exhibits  a  clear  perception  of  the  Divine  will  that  all 
should  be   saved   and  come  to  the  knowledcce  of  the 


>  Zecli.  14.  20  f. 

^  The  most  minute,  sublime,  and  brilliant  delineations  of  this  glory 
are  those  given  by  Deutero-Isaiah.  Thus,  p.fj.,  in  illustrating  the  glory 
of  the  city  of  God  lie  represents  the  most  precious  and  glittering 
things  of  earth — gold,  silver,  and  the  most  beautiful  pearls — as  em- 
ployed in  its  construction  (Isa.  54.  11  f.,  60.  17),  while  it  is  adorned 
with  plantations  of  the  loveliest  trees  (60.  13). 

^  The  earnest  and  symbol  of  this  is  the  temple-spring,  which  becomes 
a  stream  aljounding  with  water,  and  transforming  the  holy  land  into 
Paradise  (Joel  4.  18,  Zech.  14.  8,  Ezek.  47. 1  ff.).  On  the  all-sufficiency 
of  the  God  who  is  enthroned  in  the  midst  of  His  people,  cp.  also  Isa. 
60.  19  f.  The  city  of  God  has  no  more  need  of  sun  or  moon,  for 
Jehovah  is  her  eternal  light. 

*  Isa.  56.  -3  H'.  *  See  pp.  205  ff. 


27G         TJic  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

tiutli.  The  announcement  tliat  the  Kingdom  of 
(!od  will  take  the  place  of  the  shattered  kingdoms 
(>r  the  world,  implies  the  view  that  its  external 
})erfection  will  be  accomplished  by  a  judicial  cata- 
strophe.^— Finally,  Old  Testament  prophecy  is  not 
without  the  idea  of  an  ultimate  removal  of  every 
evil  that  has  entered  the  world  through  sin.'  It 
speaks  of  the  restoration  of  the  wliole  creation  to 
more  than  its  original  perfection.'*  It  tells  of  a  new 
heaven  and  new  eartli  which  (iod  will  create;*  and, 
in  particular,  of  a  future  destruction  of  the  dominion 
of  death,-^  and  a  resurrection  of  the  dead,**  which, 
according  to  the  prophecy  in  Daniel,  will  be  twofold, 
— for  some  to  everlasting  life,  for  others  to  everlasting 
contempt,''  the  final  judgment  being  thus  conceived 
as  including  the  already  deceased  members  of  the 
people  of  God. 

If  we  attempt  to  realise  all  this  in  the  wealth  of 
manifold  detail  offered  by  the  individual  prophecies, 
we  shall  be  forced  to  admit  that  the  prophecy  of  the 
Old  Covenant  disclosed  a  prospect  of  the  final  condition 
of  the  kingdom  and  people  of  God  which  approximates 
to  New  Testament  assurance.  Still  the  distance  between 
the  two  is  considerable ;  the  difference,  moreover,  does 
not  lie  merely  in  the  general  superiority  of  the  latter 
to  the  views  of  the  prophets  as  regards  the  clearness 
and  fulness  of  its  knowledge  of  saving  truth.      "We  do 

'  Dan.  2.  34.  44,  7.  14.  18.  22.  27.  ^  Cp.  f.f/.  Isa.  33.  24. 

:•  Ho.s.  2.  18.  21  f.,  Isa.  11.  6  If.  30.  20,  65.  2;".. 

*  Isa.  65.  17,  66.  22.  •'  Isa.  25.  8. 

«  Isa.  26.  19.  •  Uaii.  12.  2  f. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  277 

not  seek  to  attach  any  special  importance  to  individual 
points,  as,  e.g.,  that  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  appears 
even  in  the  Book  of  Daniel  as  confined  to  deceased 
Israelites,  while  in  the  entire  range  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy  there  is  not  a  word  of  a  general 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  Nor  need  we  more  than  refer 
once  again  to  the  limitations  of  the  prophets'  appre- 
hensions of  saving  truth  involved  in  the  specifically 
Old  Testament  conceptions  explained  above.  Just 
these  limitations,  however,  hang  together  with  another 
of  a  very  essential  kind — that,  viz.,  implied  in  the  fact 
that,  in  spite  of  Deutero-Isaiah's  prophecy  of  the  new 
heaven,  only  the  this-side,  only,  i.e.,  the  terrestrial  world, 
appears  as  the  sphere  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  erected 
for  His  people,  and  as  the  scene  of  the  accomplished 
salvation.  The  curtain  that  concealed  the  other-side, 
i.e.  the  heavenly  world,  is  not  yet  removed.  That  the 
Theocracy  of  the  perfect  time  will,  as  a  Kingdom  of 
heaven,  include  the  world  beyond,  and  thus  heaven 
also  be  opened  to  the  people  of  Clod,  is  not  prophesied. 
While,  therefore,  prophecy  brings  to  light  the  ultimate 
glorified  form  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  it  fails 
to  present  the  heavenly  character  of  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ.  Hence,  in  spite  of  the  announcement  of  an 
abolished  dominion  of  death  and  a  resurrection  of  the 
dead,  prophecy  still  fails  to  offer  to  the  godly  the 
comforting  prospect  of  finding  in  death  an  entrance 
into  the  blessedness  of  perfected  communion  with  God 
in  heaven.  The  living  hope,  gifted  to  us  through  the 
resurrection   of  Jesus   Christ,   goes    thus   far    beyond 


278         The  Ildation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

what  is  promised  in  the  Messianic  prophecy  of  the  Old 
Covenant.^ 

{h)  Old  Testament  prophecy  is  not  behindhand  with 
the  distinct  testimony  that  Israel  does  not  attain  per- 
fect fellowship  with  God  by  his  own  instrumentality 
or  power,  but  that  rather  its  establishment  and,  in 
general,  the  bringing  about  of  the  perfect  state  of  the 
people  and  kingdom  of  God,  are  throughout  God's  very 
own  work — the  work  of  His  free  grace.  He  takes  away 
the  sins  of  His  people,  not  because  of  their  desert,  but 
for  His  holy  name  and  truth's  sake,-  and  He  does  so 
by  devising,  in  place  of  the  insufficient  means  of  pro- 
pitiation provided  in  the  Old  Covenant,  new  and 
effective  ordinances  for  purification  from  sin,^  By  the 
outpouring  of  His  Spirit  He  effects  the  repentant  con- 
version,^ the  heart-renewal,  the  willing  obedience,  with 
one  consent,  of  His  commandments.  In  general,  it  is 
His  judgment  and  His  deed  of  redemption  which  effect 
the  consummation.  But  in  the  carrying  out  of  His 
saving  purpose  He  does  not  refuse  to  employ  mediating 
organs.  And  here  foremost  attention  must  be  claimed 
for  the  Messias,  with  whose  appearance  Messianic  pro- 
phecy associates,  particularly  in  the  Assyrian  period, 

1  Cp.  Dki.itzscii,  Imiah  {?,v(\  ud.  p.  CCS):  "The  Old  Testament 
throughout  fails  to  teach  any  thing  regarding  a  blessed  hcyond.  15eyond 
this  world  lies  Hades.  The  Old  Testament  betrays  no  knowledge  ol"  a 
heaven  of  blissful  human  beings.  Only  angels,  not  men,  surrouml 
the  heavenly  throne  of  God," — propositions  wholly  applicable  to  the 
content  of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  and  iimitable  only  as  regards 
Enoch  and  Elijah. 

-  Kzek.  IC.  .33,  3C.  31  f..  Isa.  43.  25,  48.  9.  IC. 

3  Zech.  13.  1,  Ezek.  36.  •!:,.  *  Zech.  U.  10  If. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  279 

the  dawn  of  the  perfect  time.  It  is  no  Messias, 
appearing  in  lowliness  and  the  form  of  a  servant,  who 
is  announced.  What  undoubtedly  is  presupposed  is 
that  before  the  dawn  of  the  Messianic  time  both  the 
people  and  the  royal  house  of  David  will  have,  through 
Divine  judgment,  experienced  the  utmost  humiliation, 
and,  accordingly,  that  in  the  Messias  both,  and  especially 
the  latter,  will  again  be  uplifted  to  glory.  Hence 
in  Isa.  11.  1  the  Messias  is  a  branch  from  the  hewn 
stem  of  Jesse ;  hence  it  is  that  in  Micah  5.  2  he  issues 
forth,  like  the  first  David,  from  the  small,  inconspicuous 
Bethlehem  ;  hence  it  is  that,  in  Ezek.  17.  22  ff.,  he  is 
an  offshoot  taken  from  the  lofty  cedar  of  the  royal 
Davidic  house,  and  planted  anew, — an  offshoot  in  which 
the  latter  renews  its  youth,  and  grows  again  a  glorious 
cedar.  He  does  not,  moreover,  like  a  worldy  conqueror, 
lay  the  foundations  of  his  power  with  the  implements 
of  martial  prowess.  Eather  like  the  %niyye  YaUveli 
(Jehovah's  poor  ones),  he  is  meek  and  lowly,  far 
removed  from  all  self-exaltation  and  violence,  riding, 
not  upon  a  proud  war-horse,  but  on  the  peaceable  foal 
of  an  ass,  a  strong  king  of  peace,  only  by  the  power 
of  God  mighty  to  help  and  save.^  Yet,  for  all  this, 
the  picture  of  the  Messias  is  not  that  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  who  had  not  where  to  lay  His  head ;  Old  Testa- 
ment prophecy  invests  him  always  rather,  even  in  his 
lowly  circumstances,  with  God-given  kingly  glory. 

On  the  other  side,  however,  not  even  the  delinea- 
tion of  his  glory  comes  up  to  the  glory  of  the  Messias 
^  Zecli.  9.  9  ;  cp.  Oehler,  art.  "Messias,"  pp.  417  f. 


280         77/6'  Relation  of  Messianic  Proj^hcc)/  to 

who  lias  appGiuetl  in  eJesiis  Christ.  He  is  represented 
as  a  human  king,  an  olTspring  from  the  stem  of  David, 
whose  eminence  is  far  above  tlie  position  of  all  other 
men,  and  whose  personality  has  about  it  something 
wonderful  and  mysterious.  Although  it  is  nowhere 
indicated  that  he  is  to  enter  the  world  in  an  extra- 
ordinary and  wonderful  manner,^  he  yet,  as  the  earthly 
representative  of  the  Divine  King,  and  His  instrument 
in  establishing  His  kingdom  and  exercising  His  govern- 
men,  stands  in  an  absolutely  unique  and  intimate  rela- 
tionship to  God,  Whose  Spirit  rests  upon  him  as  on  no 
other,  and  Whose  almighty  power,  wisdom,  righteous- 
ness, and  helpful  grace  work  through  him  in  such  full 
measure,  that  in  and  through  his  government  God's 
great  name,  i.e.  His  revealed  glory,  is  made  known.  In 
other  words,  God  makes  him  the  organ  of  His  Self- 
revelation,  just  as  elsewhere  He  uses  the  "  angel  of 
Jehovah."  Hence  even  the  Divine  designation  'el 
gibhor  (God-hero)  is  one  of  the  names  ascribed  to  him  ;  ^ 
and  hence  also,  even  in  a  more  general  announcement 
applied  to  the  house  of  David,"  there  occurs  the  expres- 
sion :  "  it  shall  be  as  God  and  the  angel  of  Jehovah 
before "  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem.  Both  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  in  humanity  the  Messias  assumes 
thus  a  central  position,'*  not  only  as  their  head,  but 
also  as  the  mediating  organ  whence  proceed  the  judi- 
cial and   saving  operations  and  the  Self-revelation  of 

'  \Vc  camiot,  with  Tiiof.rcK  (in  lor.  cit.  p.  170),  regard  I.sa.  7.  14  as 
a  (Jirectly  Messianic  juoplu'cy.     On  J\Iicah  5.  1,  cp.  p.  135. 

-  Isa.  b.   6.  »'Zech.  12.  8.  *  Isa.  11.  10. 


New  Testament  Fidjilment.  281 

the  Divine  King.^  In  that  late  apocalyptic  aftershoot 
of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  the  Book  of  Daniel,  finally, 
the  eminence  of  the  Messias  above  all  other  men,  and 
his  unique  intimate  relation  to  God,  are  emphasised 
still  more  strongly,  for,  without  reference  to  his  origin, 
he  is  described  as  one  wearing  a  human  form,  and  yet 
coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven — a  phrase  applied  else- 
where to  Jehovah  Himself.- — And  yet  even  this  Old 
Testament  picture  of  the  Messias  falls  strikingly  short 
of  the  New  Testament  God-Man;^  great  as  is  the 
glory  of  the  Messias,  who  mediates  the  revelation  of 
the  name  of  Jehovah,  it  is  yet  not  the  glory  of  the 
only-begotten  Son  of  God ;  the  mystery  that  in  the 
Messias  the  eternal  Son  of  God  should  enter  the  world 
as  man,  to  accomplish  God's  purpose  of  love,  became 
actually  manifest  only  when  the  time  was  fulfilled. — • 
In  Old  Testament  prophecy,  however,  there  stands, 
side  by  side  with  the  reference  to  the  future  Messias,  a 
reference  also  to  the  final  visible  appearance  of  Jehovah 
Himself,  who  comes  to  His  people  to  judge,  and  to 
perfect  salvation,  taking  up  His  abode  for  ever  in  their 
midst,  and  manifesting  perfectly,  and  to  all  visibly, 
His  glory  and  grace.*     And  this  visible  Self-revelatiou 

1  Pp.  179  ff.,  esp.  pp.  182  ff.  -  Dan.  7.  13  f.     See  pp.  194  ff. 

•*  The  difference  would  be  less  if  it  turned  out  that  recent  Christo- 
logical  representations,  which  hold  to  the  conception  of  the  God-Man, 
but  drop  the  idea  of  the  personal  preexistence  of  the  Son,  were  a  suf- 
Hcient  expression  of  the  New  Testament  view.  The  kinship  of  the 
latter  to  the  Old  Testament  picture  of  the  Messias — a  kinship  which, 
in  view  of  the  specifically  Old  Testament  form  of  Monotheism,  cannot 
be  considered  accidental — has  not  yet  received  proper  attention. 

•*  Cp.  pp.  201  f.,  and  besides  the  passages  there  cited,  the  as  yet  Kss 


282  Tltc  lidation  of  Messianic  Pro'phccy  to 

of  God  is,  according  to  Mai.  3.  1,  one  that  is  mediated 
by  tlie  angel  of  Jeliovali,  in  whom  is  the  name  of  God.^ 
]}iit  although  tlms  this  announcement  approximates  to 
the  other,  which  depicts  in  the  Messias  a  like  personal 
organ  of  the  Self-revelation  of  God,  yet  the  two  repre- 
sentations are  nowhere  resolved  into  each  other  j^  they 
stand,  unmediated,  side  by  side,  a  proof-instance  of  the 
ck  nUrous  pi'ojjhctcilomen  ("  we  prophesy  in  part "). — A 
fui'ther  proof  of  the  same  result  lies  in  the  fact  that  in 
not  even  a  single  instance  does  the  Messias  appear  as 
the  sole  human  organ  of  the  saving  operations  of  Jeho- 
vah, which  effect  the  consummation.  For,  irrespective 
of  the  Messianic  passages  which  speak  of  a  plurality 
of  successive  Davidic  kings,  or  of  several  ^  saviours, 
there  stand  alongside  of  the  ]\Iessias,  as  trustees  of  a 
saving  mediatorial  function,  Deutero-Isaiah's  servant  of 
God,  i.e.  the  community  of  the  Old  Covenant,  who,  as 
tlie  service  staff  of  Jehovah,  are  entrusted  with  a  pro- 
phetic commission  to  humanity  and  Zechariah's  Jfessi- 

(Ifvelopcil  forms  of  tlic  same  prophecy  in  Joel  3.  21  and  similar 
])assMges  ;  further,  in  Zech.  9.  14,  Isa.  4.  5  f.,  Zeeh.  14.  ;i  ff. .  and 
Isa.  24.  23. 

'  Ex.  23.  21. 

*  Cj).  Okiii.ki!,  ProJegomcnn  zvr  Theolofjie  dcx  Alten  Tcntamentes, 
pp.  67  f.,  and  art.  "  Messias  "  in  Hcrzog's  Realcnryklopiklie,  pp.  408  f. 
-—Passages  such  as  Ezek.  34.  es]i.  ver.  24,  cannot  lu'  adduced  in  proof  of 
the  contrary,  as  in  them  the  iLcssias  is  placed  beside  God  only  as  the 
or<,'an  through  whom  Jehovah  Himself  exercises  His  pastoral  overeight 
of  His  Hock,  just  as  elsewhere  (iod  and  tlie  king  are  placed  together 
(Prov.  24.  21,  Hos.  3.  5,  1  Sam.  12.  3.  5,  Ps.  2.  2).  Such  prophe- 
cies are  therefore  to  be  ranked  only  with  the  former  of  the  two  above 
classes;  they  say  nothing  of  a  visible  appearance  of  Jehovah  Himself, 
(•n  Dan.  10.  f)  (f. ,  see  above,  p.  19(3,  footnote. 

^Obad.  ver.  21. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  283 

anic  high  priest ;  ^  so  far  as  the  function  of  executing 
the  saving  purpose  of  God  relating  to  the  final  con- 
summation is  not  immediately  ascribed  to  Jehovah 
Himself,  it  is  divided  among  these  agents. 

(c)  This  implies  that  the  fragmentary  character  of 
the    Alessianic    apprehensions    of    the   prophets  must 
appear  to  a  great  extent  even  in  the  representation  of 
the    Messianic    tvorh    of  salvation.       The   Messias  is 
indeed  represented  as   the  mediator,  from  whom   pro- 
ceed the  Divine  Messianic  saving  operations  ;  but  this 
is  so  only  in  cases  where  these  are   considered   as  an 
exercise    of    royal    ruling    functions    in    and   for  the 
kingdom     of     God.       Everywhere     he     appears    only 
as  king,  and  his    saving  Messianic  work   consists  in 
the  deliverance  of  the  people  of  God  from  the  power 
of  their  enemies,  the  securing  of  the   theocracy,  the 
perfect  vindication  therein  of  right  and  righteousness, 
its  extension  over  all  peoples,  the  establishment  upon 
earth  of  the  eternal  kingdom  of  peace.      By  his  kingly 
rule  the  Kingdom  of  God  becomes,  what  it  is  meant  to 
be,  a  kingdom  in  which  evil  is  abolished  for  ever,  and 
none  injures  his  neighbour ;  a  kingdom  filled  with  the 
living   apprehension   of   Jehovah,  and  therefore  with 
righteousness    and    peace.^      In    short,    the    Messianic 
salvation  is  mediated   hj  him   as   regards  all  blessings 
which  accrue  to  the  2Jeople  of  God  by  a  ])erfcet  represen- 
tation 3  of  the  royal  government,  and  a  fall  vindication 
of  the  royal  will  of  Jehovah. — On   the   other  hand.  Old 
Testament    prophecy    knows    nothing   of    a  prophetic 

'  I'r-  199  f.  2  Pp.  183  ff.  3  Uehernahme. 


284  Tlic  Iielaiion  of  Messianic  Propliccy  to 

function  of  the  Messias  ;  he  indeed  makes  known  the 
M'ill  of  God,  makes  it  known  even  to  the  nations,  but 
not  as  a  prophet,  teaching,  exhorting,  comforting,  but 
as  a  king,  commanding,  ordaining,  judicially  dis- 
*>  criminating  and  deciding.^ — Just  as  little  does  Old 
Testament  prophecy  represent  the  Messias  as,  in  a 
proper  sense,  a  1ii(jh  priest.  It  speaks,  indeed,  of  his 
enjoying  a  priestly  nearness  to  Jehovah,-  but  only  in 
illustration  of  the  intimate  relation  of  inward  fellow- 
ship, in  which  he  personally,  as  king,  stands  to  God, 
not  in  the  sense  of  ascribing  to  him  the  function 
of  a  priest,  mediating  salvation.  It  represents  the 
high  priest  as  a  type  of  the  Messias,^  conceiving  the 
latter  thus  as  a  priest-king,  but  not  again  because 
he  offers  sacrifices  in  expiation  of  the  people's  sin, 
but  only  in  so  far  as  he  is  himself  a  person  in  the 
highest  degree  consecrated  to  Cfod,  and  entitled  to 
near  access  to  Him,  and  in  so  far  as  he  is  the  head 
and  representative  of  a  priestly  people,  purified  from 
their  sins  and  holy.  Once  more,  it  characterises  the 
government  of  the  ^Messianic  theocracy  as  both  a  kingly 
and  high-2)ncstli/,  and  yet  a  perfect  unity  ;  but  not  by 
assigning  the  high-priestly  function  to  the  Messias, 
but  by  placing  beside  him  on  the  throne  a  Messianic 
high  priest,  who,  one  with  him  in  mind  and  spirit, 
shares  the  conduct  of  the  government.'* — We  have, 
indeed,  every  reason  to  object  to  the  assertion  that 
the   suffering   and   expiatory  sacrifice  of  Jesus  Christ 

1  Isa.  11.  10,  Zech.  9.  10.  -  Jer.  30.  -21. 

^  Zecli.  cliap.s.  -J  and  t!.  ■•  Pp.  19t»  f. 


New  Testament  Faljilnient.  285 

were  not  foretold   by  the   prophets,  as  tliough  in  this 
matter  there   were   no  connexion   at   all   between  Old 
Testament  prophecy  and  New   Testament  fulfilment; 
no  one  who  considers  the  relation  of  the  two  other- 
M'ise  than  with  absolute  superficiality  will  stand  for 
a  moment  to  any  such  assertion.      It  is  true,  neverthe- 
less, that  the  prophecy  of  the  Old  Covenant  does  not 
know  of  a  Mcssias  who  suffers  and  dies :  it  is  also  true 
that    it   noivhcre  ascribes    to    the    Messias   an   official 
function  of  mediating  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  or  effecting 
an    ethico  -  religious    reneival   of   hearts,'^   and    that,    in 
general,  it  does  not  represent  perfected  j^ersonal  felloiv- 
ship  vjith  God  in  love  as  mediated  by  him.      On  the 
other    hand,    however,   it    announces     distinctly   and 
definitely  not  only — as  already  remarked — that  God 
will  devise  new  and  sufficient  ordinances  for  expiating 
His  people's  sin,^  and  will  effect  the  renewal  of  hearts 
by  His   Spirit,  but  also  that  a  mighty  redemptive  act 
of  God  the    Saviour,  an  act,  exhibiting  in    the  most 
glorious  way  the  superabundant  grace  of  God  for  Israel 
and  the  whole  world,  will  yield  at  once  salvation  and 

^  The  title  of  tlie  Messias  in  Jer.  23.  6,  Yahev.h  (dclhkmu  (Jeliovali 
our  nghteonsuess),  imports  undoubtedly  that  Jehovah  Himself  will 
through  the  Messias,  as  His  organ,  put  His  people  into  a  condition 
of  perfected  legal  qualification  {Rechtbeschafftnhtit),  and  will  by  the 
same  means  grant  them  the  privilege  of  an  actual  justification 
(Gerechtsprechung),  consisting  of  deliverance,  salvation,  and  security. 
That  what  is  meant  by  this,  however,  is  the  restoration  by  kingly 
(fovernment  of  the  legal  constitution  and  well-being  of  the  life  of  the 
people  as  a  whole,  is  clear  from  what  is  said  in  ver.  5  of  the  work  of  the 
righteous  branch  of  David.  Hence  it  was  possible,  as  in  Jer.  33.  16 
to  apply  the  name  to  the  capital,  as  representing  tlie  people  of  God 
-  Zech.  13.  1,  Ezek.  36.  25. 


28G         T}ic  Rflatioii  of  Messianic  I*roj)liecy  to 

consummation.  It  is  true  that  in  such  predictions 
the  prophets  speak  of  the  impending  deliverance  from 
the  power  of  Assyria  and  Babylon,  so  that  even  here 
prophecy  does  not  lose  its  symbolico-typical  character. 
J)Ut  this  deliverance  from  the  power  of  the  world- 
kingdoms,  and  from  an  extremity  of  judgment,  is  at 
the  same  time  a  deliverance  of  the  people  of  God  from 
all  their  distress ;  just  with  it  is  connected  the  full 
forgiveness  of  sins,  and  by  it  also  Israel  is  cured  of 
his  blindness  and  hardness  of  heart.  By  it  God 
purchases  His  people  anew  to  Himself  for  a  possession; 
it  marks  the  accomplishment  of  a  second  higher  elec- 
tion— an  event  in  which  for  the  first  time  the  promise: 
"  I  will  be  their  God,  and  they  shall  be  my  people," 
attains  full  verification,  in  wliich,  i.e.,  the  perfect 
fellowship  with  God  of  His  people  is  for  the  first 
time  established.  Hence  it  is  frequently  coujpared 
with  the  first  historical  accomplishment  of  the  election, 
the  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Egypt;  and  it  is  declared 
that  it  will  put  this  event,  constituting  as  it  did  for 
the  Old  Testament  religion  the  foundation  of  cer- 
tainty regarding  Israel's  election,  wliolly  into  the 
shade,^ 

But  we  have  not  yet  exhausted  the  prophetic 
apprehension  of  salvation.  For  prophecy  announces 
further  a  prophetic  and  priestly  mediator  of  salvation, 
through  whom  the  saving  purpose  of  God  concerning 
Israel  and  humanity  reaches  accomplishment.      There 

1  Cp.  e.g.   Isa.   10.    26,  11.    11.   16,  chap.   12,    Micah  7.   l.'),'iiiany 
passages  in  Deutcro-Isaiah,  aiul  isp.  Jcr.  16.  14  f.,  23.  7  t. 


Nno  Testament  FaJjilmcnt.  287 

is  the  servant  of  God,  as  depicted  to  us  by  Deutero- 
Isaiah  :  how  equipped  for  his  work  by  the  Spirit  of 
Jehovah,  in  humility  and  silence,  destroying  nothing, 
but  rather  as  a  saviour,  comforting  and  helping,  in 
untiring  patient  endurance,  and  a  hope  that  is  strong 
in  faith,  amid  reproach  and  persecution,  and  in  faith- 
fulness even  unto  death,  he  fulfils  his  prophetic 
calling  to  attest  God's  truth,  and  to  carry  God's 
salvation  even  to  the  ends  of  the  earth ;  how,  himself 
guiltless,  he  yet,  as  the  representative  of  a  people 
devoted  to  the  wrath  of  God,  takes  upon  himself  tlie 
guilt  of  all  in  love  and  patient  willingness  to  suffer, 
bears  vicariously  their  chastisements,  yields  his  life 
as  a  guilt  -  offering  for  their  defections,  and  thus,  by 
his  vicarious  punitive  suffering,  and  by  his  inter- 
cession, secures  the  pardon  and  salvation  of  all ;  how, 
finally,  on  this  way  of  suffering  and  death  he  passes 
to  unfading  glory  in  the  royal  dominion  appointed  for 
him,  and  is  owned  by  the  whole  world  ■ —  a  priestly 
mediator,  to  whom  all  owe  salvation.  It  is  deep 
insight,  such  as  this,  that  prophecy  displays  into  the 
saving  purpose  of  God ;  yet  even  here  knowledge  is 
but  in  part ;  for  the  picture  of  this  servant  of  God 
stands  beside  that  other  picture  of  the  Divinely- 
powerful  Messianic  king  without  any  mediating, 
unifying  link ;  indeed,  the  prophet  himself  does  not 
mean  to  depict  a  solitary  individual  entrusted  with 
the  functions  of  a  mediator  of  salvation,  he  seeks 
rather  to  give,  in  the  ideal  personality  of  the  servant 
of  God,  a  unified  and  individual  representation  of  the 


288         TJic  lu'lation  oj  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

true  congregation  of  (!od  as  the  service  -  staff  of 
•leliovah.  Add  to  which  that,  in  the  view  of  the 
prophet,  the  vicarious  punitive  suffering  of  the  servant 
coincides,  at  least  in  part  and  in  its  beginnings,  with 
the  sufferings  which  Jehovah's  servants  have  already 
endured  in  the  Exile ;  ^  and  the  deliverance  from  the 
Exile,  and  the  return  to  the  holy  land,  are  the 
beginning  at  once  of  the  glorification  of  the  servant 
of  God,  and  of  the  salvation  mediated  through  Him 
to  Israel,-  so  that,  even  here,  prophecy  remains  true 
to  its  symbolico-typical  character. 

(il)  Bring  we,  finally,  together,  in  brief  compass,  the 
main  features  of  the  prophetic  view  of  the  conditions 
and  historical  course  of  the  realisation  of  salvation, 
omitting,  liowever,  what  has  been  already  expressly 
treated.  According  to  the  entire  testimony  of  Old 
Testament  prophecy,  the  Messianic  salvation  belongs, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  Israel  as  the  elect  people  of 
Jehovah's  possession,  and  is  extended  to  the  heathen 
only  through  him.  Israel  can,  how^ever,  participate  in 
it  only  upon  condition  of  his  turning  in  penitence  and 
faith  unreservedly  and  with  his  whole  heart  to  his 
(lod.  Preceding,  thei'efore,  the  saving  redemptive  act 
of  God,  which  effects  the  consummation  of  the  theocracy, 
is  a  judgment,  and  with  that  act  itself  a  judgment  is 
associated.  All  the  prophets  predict  this  judgment- 
day    of  Jehovah,  and  all   agree    in    representing  the 

'  Pp.  214  f. 

-  Even  Dkmtzsch  givos  ropeatcd  ami  oniphatic  promincnre  to  (lip 
latter  point  ill  liis  t'Xiiositiou  of  Isa.  40-C(j;  cp.  e.g.  his  Coiin/niitti  11/ 
oil  Isa'iali  (Geiin.),  J3r(J  cd.  ji.  f)]-!. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  289 

judgment  as  beginning  with  the  people  of  God.     The 
object  of  the  judgment,  as  regards  Israel,  is  just  to 
effect  this  necessary  preliminary  of  penitence  and  con- 
version.    Frequently  it  is  depicted  how  the  judgment 
will  humble  Israel,  leading  him  to  perceive  and  peni- 
tently confess  his  guilt,  giving  him  a  distaste  of  the  old 
ways  of  sin,  and  driving  him  in  his  extremity  to  seek 
his  God.      In  particular,  Micah^ — and,  in  further  ex- 
position of  his  ideas,  Deutero-Isaiah — describe  in  detail 
how  the  people  of  God,  given  over  to  the  power  of  the 
Gentiles,  penitently  and  willingly  endure  the  judgment 
as    well-deserved,  maintaining,  however,  at  the  same 
time,  an  immovable  faith  and  hope  that  the  faithful 
covenant-God  will  lift  up  His  people  from  their  fall, 
and  over  against  the  scorn  and  mockery  poured  upon 
their  trust  in   the   God  of  their   salvation,  will  bril- 
liantly justify  them.     Along  with  this,  however,  it  is 
recognised  that  the  object  of  the  judgment,  penitent 
shame   for    past  defections    and  thorough  conversion, 
will  be  fully  attained  only  through  the  glorious  exhibi- 
tion of  the  sin-forgiving  redeeming  grace  of  God.     Such 
is    the    view    even  of  Hosea,^  but,  in    particular,   of 
Ezekiel,^  who    knew    from   experience  how  little  the 
refractory  spirit  of  Israel  had  been  broken  by  the  stress 
of  judgment,  and  therefore  frequently  emphasises  the 
assertion  that  God  accomplishes  His  gracious  deed  of 
redemption,  in  spite  of  Israel's  undesert,  solely  for  the 
honour  of  His  holy  name,  and  for  His  truth's  sake. 

1  Micah  7.  7  \L  ^  jjos.  2.  18  f.,  3.  5,  5.  15—6,  3,  14.  1.  8. 

=*  Ezek.  20.  33  tf.,  16.  63,  36.  31  f. 

T 


290         The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

It  is  also  the  view  of  Deutero-Isaiali,  who  exhibits  the 
redemptive  deed  in  the  same  light,  and  throughout 
represents  the  full  knowledge  of  the  living  God  and 
only  Saviour  as  its  object  and  fruit. — It  is  a  further 
consequence  of  the  same  perception,  that  both  the  last- 
named  prophets  attest  that  only  an  impenitent  irre- 
sponsiveness  to  the  gracious  deed  of  redemption,  only 
the  despising  of  the  3Iessianic  saving  grace  of  God,  carries 
with  it  the  decisive  judgment  of  annihilation  that  is 
associated  with  the  work  of  redemption.^ — In  not  a 
few  prophecies,  conversion  appears  as  the  first-fruit  of 
the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  So,  e.g.,  Zech.  12.  10  ft". 
This  remarkable  prophecy  determines,  at  the  same  time, 
more  precisely  the  principal  object  of  Israel's  penitent 
mourning :  liis  guilt  culminates  in  the  murder  of  a 
prophet,  and  so  the  penitence  expresses  itself  principally 
in  the  mourning  of  all  for  one  whom  they  have  pierced. 
A  critical  exposition  of  the  passage  forbids  us  to  see 
in  this  prophet  the  Messias,  requiring  us  rather  to 
regard  the  murder  as  having  already  taken  place  at 
the  time  of  the  prophecy  ;  still  what  we  have  here — 
thougli  under  typical  veil — is  a  definite  recognition  of 
the  fact,  that,  while  Israel  participates  in  the  Messianic 
salvation,  he  will  have  to  mourn  the  worst  residt  of  a 
deadly  enmity  cherished  Inj  him  towards  a  servant  of  God 
sent  in  witness  of  the  truth.  This  recognition  also  we 
find,  again,  in  Deutero-Isaiah,  in  so  far  at  least  as  his 
prophecy  also  represents  the  suil'ering  of  the  servant  of 
God  as  occasioned  by  the  enmity  of  apostate  Israelites, 

1  Ezck.  20.  38,   Isa.  48.  22,  fiO.  11,  57.  20  f.,  65.  11  IT.,  66.  24. 


Nevj  Testament  Fulfilment.  291 

and  in  so  far  as  the  penitent  and  pardoned  Israelites 
acknowledge  that  they  have  failed  to  know,  and  have 
lightly  esteemed,  the  servant  of  God,  when  he  took 
the  form  of  a  sufferer,  deeming  him  as  one  justly 
chastened  of  God ;  but  that  now  the}^  have  come  to 
know  that  he,  the  guiltless  one,  bore  their  guilt  and 
punishment.^  —  Finally,  prophecy  also  foretold  that, 
immediately  preceding  the  advent  of  the  Divine  Judge 
of  His  people  and  Redeemer  of  His  faithful  ones,  there 
should  come  a  great  prophet  as  preparer  of  the  tvay, 
who,  by  his  Divinely-powerful  word,  should  summon 
the  people  to  repentance.'-^ 

Upon  Israel's  conversion  and  redemption  there 
follows  the  entrance  of  the  Gentiles  into  the  Kingdom 
of  God.  This  event  also,  according  to  the  entire  testi- 
mony of  Old  Testament  prophecy,  is  prepared  for, 
conditioned,  and  accompanied  by  a  judicial  revelation 
of  the  holy  majesty  of  Jehovah,  in  destroying  the 
determined  enemies  of  His  kingdom,  in  filling  the  spared 
remnant  with  fear  and  trembling  before  Him,  and  in 
opening  their  eyes  to  the  nothingness  of  their  idols,  and 
to  Jehovah's  sole  Godhead.  The  judgment  which 
produces  such  an  effect  strikes,  moreover,  in  the  lirst 
instance,  the  world  -  power,  to  whose  dominion  the 
people  of  God  had  been  given  over.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  the  association  of  this  judgment  with  the 
redemp)tion  of  Israel,  and  the  gift  to  him  of  the  Messianic 
salvation,  which  awakens  in  the  Gentiles  the  longing 
to  be  attached  likewise  to  the  God  Whom  they  have 

1  Isa.  53.  =Mal.  3.  1,  4.  5f. 


292         The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophccij  to 

come  to  know  as  the  only  strength  and  salvation. 
In  some  individual  prophecies  ^  there  is  ascribed,  further, 
to  the  person  and  Llessing-laden  government  of  the 
Divinely-powerful  Messianic  king,  a  certain  attractive 
power,  which  determines  the  nations  to  yield  willing 
subjection  to  him  as  God's  representative  on  earth,  and 
match  his  royal  requirements  with  a  ready  obedience. 
In  others  it  is  announced  that  God  Himself  will  make 
known  His  will,  and,  by  the  exercise  of  His  unerring 
judicial  power,  set  up  among  them  His  kingdom  of 
peace;-  that  He  will  take  away  the  veil  of  their  ignorance 
and  blindness,^  and  purify  their  lips  from  the  defile- 
ment of  the  idol-names,  so  that  they  shall  call  upon 
His  name  and  serve  Him  in  one  mind.'*  Another  clear 
and  definite  announcement  of  Old  Testament  prophecy 
is,  however,  that  the  people  of  Ood  will  be  instrumental 
in  bringing  to  the  nations  the  true  knowledge  and 
worship  of  God,  and  in  executing  upon  the  Gentiles 
the  saving  purpose  of  the  Divine  mercy.  As  early  as 
Jeremiah  •'  we  find  the  beginnings  of  this  perception,  and 
Deutero-Isaiah  depicts  repeatedly  and  in  detail,  how, 
with  an  untiring  endurance,  ever  ready  to  suffer,  and 
in  faithfulness  even  unto  death,  the  servant  of  God, 
appointed  a  light  to  the  (Jentiles,  fulfils  a  prophetic 
witness-vocation,  which  God  had  in  view  even  at  the 
time  of  Israel's  election,  until  the  sworn  decree  of 
Jehovah,  that  every  knee  should  bow,  and  every  tongue 
swear  to  Him,  shall  have  been  carried  out,  and  the 

1  E.<i.  Zech.  0.  10,  Isa.  11.  10.  -  Isa.  2.  3  f. 

^  Isa.  -25.  7.  *  Zepli.  3.  9.  ^  Jer.  12.  16,  30.  10. 


Neiv  Testament  Fulfilment.  293 

salvation  of  God  shall  have  reached  the  ends   of  the 
earth. — But  prophecy  has  too  clear  a  perception  of  the 
sin  and  alienation  from  God  that  prevail  in  the  world, 
and  of  the  far-reaching  nature  of  the  contrast  between 
the  Gentile  world-kingdoms  and  the  Kingdom  of  God,  to 
be  able  to  present  the  prospect  of  a  development  to 
this  goal,  that  should  be  peaceful  and  without  contiict 
or  further  judgments.     Hence  it  announces  repeatedly, 
as  immediately  preceding  the  last  time,  a  final  conflict 
of  the  heathen  world-power  with  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
ending  in  the  complete  victory   of  the  latter,  and  a 
destroying  judgment    upon    the   assailants.      Such    is 
already  the  representation  of   Joel.'  Micah,^  and  the 
preexilian  Zechariah.=^     Jeremiah  also  prophesies  that, 
beyond  the  first  judgment  upon  the  idolatrous  nations 
hostile  to  Israel,  after  their  pardon  and  restoration,  and 
after  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  has  been  offered 
to  them,  and  the  door  to  His  kingdom  been  opened,  yet 
a  second  judgment  will  overtake  and  destroy  those  who 
persist  in  their  obduracy.^     The  destroying  judgment 
thus  awaits  the  Gentiles  also,  only  in  so  far  as,  in  spite 
of  Jehovah's  deeds  of  judgment  and  grace,  they  betray 
an  unvjillingncss  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  God  through 
impenitent  persistence  in  their  enmity  against  God  and 
His  kingdom.      The  most  remarkable  form  of  this  an- 
nouncement occurs  in  Ezekiel:  after  the  first  judgment 
—which  secures  Israel  against  the  surrounding  nations  ■' 

1  Joel  3.  9  ff.  2  Micah  4.  11  ff.,  5.  5  f. 

^  Zech.  12.  1  ff.,  14.  :j  f}'.,  12  ff.  4  j^j.^  12.  17. 

5  Ezek.  28.  24  ff. 


294         Tiic  Ildation  of  Messianic  rrophecy  to 

— the  Kingdom  of  God  is  set  up  in  perfected  form  for 
Israel  on  the  soil  of  the  holy  land,  and  the  people  of 
(rod  enjoy  a  long  2Jcriod  of  secure  rest  and  deep  peace.^ 
Only  in  the  last  days  the  most  distant  peoples,  who 
have  not  yet  learned  the  power  of  Jehovah,  assemble 
in  troops  round  Gog,  king  of  Magog,  for  a  last  assault 
upon  the  Kingdom  of  God,  whereupon  the  last  judg- 
ment of  God  falls  upon  them  and  their  countries, — a 
judgment  in  which  He  approves  Himself  as  the  Holy 
One  in  the  eyes  of  all  peoples,  in  order  that  all  may 
know  Him,  and  tlie  people  of  God  remain  for  ever 
secured  against  all  assaults  and  reproach.-  But 
Deutero-Isaiah  also  holds  out  the  prospect,  after  the 
judgment  upon  the  Chaldean  world-power,  and  after 
the  people  of  God  have  begun  to  fulfil  their  prophetic 
witness  -  vocation,  of  another  and  last  assault  of  the 
heathen  peoples  upon  the  city  of  God,  and  of  a  last 
great  judgment  upon  them,  in  consequence  of  which 
even  the  most  distant  peoples  will  pay  homage  to 
Jehovah,  of  Whose  glory  they  will  hear  from  fugitives.^ 
As  Old  Testament  prophecy  knows  nothing  of  a 
twofold  coming  of  the  Messias  in  the  form  of  a  servant 
and  in  glory,  it  necessarily  fails  to  bring  clearly  to 
light  the  mustard-seed  growth  of  the  community  of 
the  New  Covenant,  and  the  difference  between  the 
first  humble  form  of  the  Church  militant  and  the 
final  glorious  form  of  the  Church  triumphant.  Usually 
it  associates  rather  the  erection  of  the  Kingdom  of  God 
in  its  final  form  immediately  with  the  redemptive  act 

»  Ezek.  38.  8.  11  f.    -'  Ezek.  chaps.  38  ami  39.    '   Isa.  66. 18  fl'. 


Neiv  Testament  Fulfilment.  295 

of  God,  which  brings  about  the  era  of  salvation. 
Xevertheless  the  fundamental  law,  which  determines 
the  course  of  the  development  of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ, 
is  clearly  expressed  in  the  prophecy  of  Deutero-Isaiah. 
God's  ways  are  different  from  the  ways  of  men;  His 
work  attains  accomplishment  in  quite  another  way 
than  human  works.  His  people,  whom  He  has  called 
as  His  servant  to  accomplish  His  saving  purposes, 
attain  nothing  by  external  power,  by  operations  that 
are  noisy,  violent,  or  that  strike  the  eye.  The  power 
that  originates  from  Him  must  find  its  warrant  in  the 
victory  of  His  people  over  an  external  world-power,  to 
which  yet  they  appear  to  be  subject.  Victory  is  won 
only  through  the  humble,  self-renouncing,  pain-defying 
devotion  of  God's  people  to  Himself,  and  to  their 
entrusted  vocation  of  salvation  and  love,  and  through 
the  invisible  power  of  God  and  His  truth ;  only  on 
the  way  of  humiliation  and  suffering  do  the  people  of 
God  come  to  participate  in  their  destined  glory. 

Finally,  be  it  once  again  remembered  that  even 
Old  Testament  prophecy  announces,  as  the  closing 
scene  of  the  entire  history  of  salvation,  the  resurrection 
and  accompanying  final  judgment  of  the  dead  (this 
specially  in  the  Book  of  Daniel),  and  the  renewal  and 
glorifying  of  heaven  and  earth. 

In  all  this  we  recognise  the  elements  of  New 
Testament  apprehension  of  the  conditions  of  receiving 
salvation,  and  of  the  course  of  development  pursued  by 
the  history  of  the  Theocracy.  In  particular,  we  see 
also  the  main  lines  of  New  Testament  eschatology ; 


296         TliC  Bdation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  in 

but  here  also  the  fragmentary  character  of  the  pro- 
phetic apprehensions,  and  the  practice  of  veiling  them 
under  types,  make  themselves  in  many  ways  apparent. 
Tims  it  is  shown  that  at  every  point  the  Messianic 
prophecy  of  the  Old  Covenant  fails  to  present  any  full 
apprehension  of  God's  saving  purpose  as  carried  out  in 
the  New  Covenant,  and  that  so  far  from  its  doing  so,  the 
accomplishment  of  that  purpose  is  its  first  full  revelation. 
5.  The  actual  execution  of  God's  saving  purpose  in 
and  through  Christ  goes,  according  to  the  foregoing 
exposition,far  beyond  the  content  of  Messianic  prophecy; 
it  is  a  more  glorious  revelation  of  the  eternal  love  of 
God,  it  offers  a  yet  greater  salvation  than  that  whicli 
prophecy  places  in  prospect ;  but  it  is  none  the  less 
on  that  account  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy.  Not  even 
the  unreserved  acknowledgment  of  the  fragmentary 
character  of  the  prophetic  apprehensions,  in  consequence 
of  which  the  carrying  out  of  God's  saving  purpose 
appears  distributed  among  various  mediating  agents  of 
salvation,  implies  in  any  degree  a  dissolution  of  the 
bond  which  unites  Old  Testament  prophecy  and  New 
Testament  fulfilment.  For  what  is  true  of  ^Messianic 
prophecy  in  general  and  as  a  whole,  viz.  that  it  has  its 
God-intended  and  God-ordained  ultimate  reference  to 
Christ — girinu  it  its  place  in  historical  revelation,  is 
true  even  of  those  Messianic  prophecies  which,  in 
their  historical  sense,  do  not  treat  of  the  person  of  the 
]\Iessias,  but  of  the  visible  appearance  of  Jehovah  for 
final  judgment  and  for  redemption,  or  of  the  theocratic 
community  of  the  Old  Covenant,  or  of  the  Messianic 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  297 

high  priest.  The  decree  of  God,  fixed  before  the 
foundation  of  the  work1,  that  Christ  should  assume  the 
central  position  of  sole  mediator  of  all  salvation  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  in  liumanity,  implied  that  all 
prophecies,  proceeding  from  whatsoever  different  start- 
ing-points, should  from  the  first  point  towards  Him, 
should  converge  towards  Him  as  rays  of  light  to  their 
focal  point,  and  find  in  and  through  Him  their  unified 
fulfilment.^ 

Even  before  the  appearance  of  Christ  we  find  at 
least  the  beginnings  of  a  way  of  interpreting  prophecy 
which  recognises  this  ultimate  reference  to  the  great 
design  of  historical  revelation,  and  goes  therefore  beyond 
the  historical  sense  of  individual  predictions.  The 
gulf  between  the  content  of  Old  Testament  prophecy 
and  New  Testament  fulfilment  is  at  least  in  some 
degree  bridged  over  by  the  development  of  the  religious 
perceptions  of  Judaism  in  the  post-canonical  period. 
We  cannot  enter  here  on  a  detailed  proof  of  this. 
The  Judaeo  -  Alexandrian  doctrine  of  the  Logos,  tlie 
speculations  ^    formulated    in    the   Shlchlna     and   the 

1  Cp.  2  Cor.  1.  20.  Cp.  Bertheau  in  he.  cit.  1859,  p.  320  :  "  Many 
are  the  threads  of  prophecy  which,  pervading  the  Old  Testament  in 
motley  complication,  meet  in  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testament." 
Oehler,  Herzog's  Beat  -  Ennjllopadie,  art.  "Messias,"  1st  ed.  \). 
417  ;  2nd  ed.  p.  648  :  "It  belongs  to  the  character  of  prophecy  to 
present  in  its  envisaging  forms  disjecta  membra  which  are  harmoniously 
blended  only  in  the  course  of  the  fulfdling  history.  The  presupposi- 
tions of  all  the  essential  determinations  of  New  Testament  Christology 
are  to  be  found  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  the  revealing  word  which 
unites  them  organically  and  gives  them  their  ultimate  form,  is  given 
only  along  with  the  accomplished  revealing  fact." 

"  Theolof/omnena. 


298         TJu  Itdation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

J/t'/nm' 1  (indwelling,  word)  -  of  the  Palestinian  theo- 
logy, and  the  conception  of  the  Hypostatic  Wisdom, 
notoriously  paved  the  way  for  the  New  Testament 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  in  particular  for  its 
doctrine  of  the  Son;  and  besides  these  we  need  give 
prominence  in  a  Christological  reference  only  to  an 
idea  which  can  claim  so  early  a  witness  as  the  Book 
of  Enoch  (IS.  3.  6),  that,  viz.,  of  the  anteraundane  pre- 
existence  of  the  Messias,  which  approximates  further 
to  the  conception  found  in  the  Targum  of  Jonathan, 
that  tlie  Messias  was  already  present,  and  would  emerge 
from  obscurity  so  soon  as  Israel  repented ;  ^  and,  as 
regards  the  opened  Heaven  of  Christian  hope,  we  may 
refer  to  the  doctrine  of  immortality  of  the  later  Judaism,'* 
and  especially  to  the  frequent  representations — occur- 
ring also  in  the  Targum  of  Jonathan — of  eternal  life,  and 
of  the  second  death,  which  the  condemned,  who  are 
consigned  to  Gehenna,  must  die. — The  point  of  im- 
portance, however,  for  us  to  note  in  this  connexion  is 
that  even  the  oldest  Jewish  exegesis  referred  to  the 
^Messias  many  passages  which  in  their  historical  sense 
contain  no  mention  of  him,  and  associated  the  ful- 
filment  of   all    the    promises    of    salvation    with    his 

1  Cp.  thereon  Ferp.  Weber,  System  der  nltsi/nof/ogalen  ^>a?a.s<i?j- 
i^rhen  Theolof/ie,  Leipzig  1880,  pp.  174  if. 

-  [The  techuical  terms,  common  in  Old  Testament  post-canonical 
times,  for  the  manifested  glory  and  the  revelation  of  Jehovah. — Tk.] 

^  Jonath.  Micah  4.  8 :  "  And  thou  Messias  of  Israel,  v:ho  art  conceaJed 
becatise  of  the  sins  of  the  community  of  Z ion,  to  thee  will  the  kingship 
come,"  etc.     Cp.  besides,  Werer  in  loc.  cit.  pp.  339  tT. 

•»  Cp.  e.g.  Jonath.  Isa.  4.  3.— Isa.  22.  14,  65.  6.  15.— Hos.  14.  9, 
Isa.  26,  15,  19  and  other  passages. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  299 

appearance.^  In  the  Targum  of  Jonathan,  which — 
later  additions  apart — was  certainly  written  before  the 
destruction  of  Jersualem,  and  rests  npon  a  traditional 
style  of  exegesis  which  reaches  back  into  the  pre- 
Christian  era,  very  many  prophecies — among  them  the 
most  of  those  which  are  cited  by  the  New  Testament 
writers — are  stamped  as  Messianic.  This  is  specially 
true  of  Deutero  -  Isaiah's  prophecies  regarding  the 
servant  of  God.  The  thought  of  a  suffering  and  dying 
Messias  is,  of  course,  sedulously  excluded,  and  every- 
thing that  is  said  in  Isa.  53  of  the  suffering  of  the 
servant  of  God  is  set  aside  by  a  strained  interpretation.^ 

Mn  his  treatise,  "Ueber  doppelten  Schriftsinn"  {Stud.  u.  Krit. 
1866,  Pt.  i.  Cp.  also  his  Alttest.  Theol.  2nd  ed.  pp.  828  ff.),  Herm. 
ScHULTZ  has  sliown  how  many  of  the  Psahiis,  specially  the  monarchical 
ones,  have  acquired,  through  their  use  in  public  worship  in  the  Old 
Testament  community,  and  on  the  basis  of  their  original  historical 
sense,  a  second  and  higher  Messianic  sense. 

-  Except  that  in  Isa.  53.  12  the  clause  "because  he  hath  poured  out 
his  soul  unto  death  "  was  allowed  to  remain.  The  paraphrast,  however, 
could  hardly  have  intended  it  to  be  understood  as  referring  to  a  literal 
endurance  of  death  (cp.  "Weber  in  loc.  cit.  p.  345).  So  far,  moreover, 
as  individual  passages,  depicting  the  sufferings  of  the  servant  of  God, 
are  referred  to  the  misery  of  the  Israelitish  nation,  this  is  less  an 
instance  of  strained  exegesis  (such  as  we  find  practised  with  the  most 
violent  arbitrariness  in  53.  3.  7.  9)  than  of  keeping — though  doubtless 
in  a  very  external  way — to  the  historical  sense  ;  it  marks  simply  the 
fact  that  the  Messianic  interpretation  is  not  yet  established  ;  the  older 
historical  understanding  of  prophecy  still  asserts  itself  over  against  it 
to  a  considerable  extent.  We  take  this  opportunity  of  pointing  out, 
further,  that  in  the  passage,  Sir.  48.  10  f.  (which  treats  of  the  return 
of  Elias),  use  is  made  of  Isa.  49.  6  along  with  Mai.  4.  5,  which  pre- 
su]iposes  a  reference  or  an  accompanying  reference  of  the  prophecy 
regarding  the  servant  of  God  to  the  prophetic  office,  or,  more  exactly, 
to  the  prophetes  pistus,  faithful  prophet  (1  Mace.  14.  41),  expected 
in  accordance  with  Dent.  18.  15,  or,  otherwise,  the  revival  of  ancient 
prophecy  in  the  returning  Elias. 


300         The  Relation  of  M(:ssia)iic  Prophecy  to 

Such  interpretations,  however,  always  rest,  along  with  the 
designation  of  the  future  aeon  (alma  cWdfhC'  =  hdoldm 
hahba)  as  the  time  of  the  Messias,^  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  Messias  has  in  general  to  be  viewed  as  the 
mediator  of  the  salvation  destined  for  the  people  of 
God,  and  especially  of  the  forgiveness  of  sin.- — Hence 
it  cannot  surprise  us  that,  on  the  basis  of  such  a  mode 
of  exegesis,  transcending  as  it  does  the  historical  sense 
of  prophecy,  and  laying  hold  of  its  ultimate  design  in 
the  sclieme  of  historical  revelation,  Zacharias  should 
regard  the  prophecy  of  the  coming  of  the  Lord  to  His 
people,^  and  Simeon,  the  promises  relating  to  the  ser- 
vant of  God,*  as  finding  their  fulfilment  in  the  Messias. 
Yet  all  this  was  but  a  preparatory  initiation  of  the 
perception  that  all  the  promises  of  God  were  to  become 
"  yea  and  amen  "  in  the  person  of  the  one  Messianic 
mediator  of  salvation.-^  For  this  perception  wells  forth 
for  the  first  time  with  perfect  clearness  from  the 
Messianic  self-consciousness  of  Jesus  Christ.  As  the 
Son,  who  has  the  full  confidence  of  His  Father  as 
regards  the  latter's  mind  and  intentions.  He,  in  general, 
so  construes  the  word  of  Old  Testament  Scripture  as 
to  bring  forth  the  eternal  thouL-hts  of  God  from  their 
temporary  national  veil.  The  word  of  prophecy,  in 
particular.  He  treats  in  this  way.  He  understands 
and  interprets  it  as  One  conscious  of  having  been 
appointed  sole  Mediator  of  salvation  before  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world,  and  of  having  now  come  to  accom- 

'  Jonathan,  1  Kings  1.  33.         "  Cp.  Jonatlian,  Isa.  fio.  4. 
Luke  1.  7(5.  *  Luke  2.  31  f.  *  2  Cor.  1.  20. 


Nav  Testament  Fulfilment.  301 

plish  the  whole  saving  counsel  of  the  Father  regarding 
humanity.  In  this  consciousness  He  makes  Himself 
the  Subject  of  all  the  saving  mediatorial  activities  and 
experiences  which  prophecy  predicated  of  various  sub- 
jects, and  which  were  to  perfect  the  Kingdom. — By  His 
confirmatory  acceptance  of  the  confession  that  He  is 
the  Christ^  and  of  the  title  "  Son  of  David,"  by  His 
Self-designation  as  the  "  Son  of  Man  "  and  the  "  Son  of 
God  "  (albeit  the  content  of  these  names  is  not  con- 
fined to  their  Messianic  sense),  by  His  sworn  confession 
before  the  Council,-  and  by  His  festive  Messianic 
entrance  into  Jerusalem  conformably  to  the  words  of 
the  prophecy,  Zech.  9.  9,  He  declares  the  prophecies 
of  the  coming  Messias  as,  above  all  others,  those  which 
are  in  part  fulfilled  and  in  part  about  to  be  fulfilled  in 
His  own  person  and  work  as  the  King  of  the  heavenly 
Kingdom.  Of  course,  however,  the  picture  of  the 
Messianic  King  which  emerges  from  the  depths  of  His 
self-consciousness  is  different  from  that  of  the  prophets  ; 
the  two  pictures  are  just  as  distinct  from  each  other 
as  are  the  Old  Testament  delineation  of  an  external 
theocracy  and  the  N'ew  Testament  idea  of  the  Kingdom 
of  heaven ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  have  the  same 
internal  mutual  relations  as  these  latter.  The  Messi- 
anic King  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  through  whom 
God's  kingly  rule  and  His  judicial  and  saving  work  are 
mediated,  has,  in  Christ's  sense,  first  of  all  only  au 
invisible  spiritual  power,  founded  especially  upon  the 
spiritual  power  of  the  truth  which  He  came  into  the 
1  JIatt.  16.  16  f.  •-  Matt.  26.  63  f. 


302         Tlu  Relation  of  Messianic  Pwphecy  to 

world  to  attest  and  authenticate ;  His  glory,  at  first 
mainly  ethical,  is  as  yet  concealed,  recognisable  only 
to  the  eye  of  faith ;  His  Kingdom,  that  is  not  of  this 
world,  is,  in  the  first  instance,  set  up  inwardly  in  the 
heart ;  His  way  to  glory  and  universal  recognition 
leads  through  the  deepest  humiliation  in  His  suffering 
of  death ;  and,  even  after  all  power  has  been  given 
Him  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  His  kingly  government, 
by  means  of  which  He  leads  His  people  to  meet  the 
End  on  the  same  road  that  He  has  gone  Himself,  is 
manifest  first  of  all  only  to  the  faith  that  looks  into 
the  invisible  world,  until  at  the  end  of  days  He  will 
return  in  full  revelation  of  His  kingly  glory  to  judge 
His  enemies  and  set  up  His  Kingdom  in  its  perfect 
form. — We  may  say  that  the  difference  between  this 
picture  of  the  Messianic  king  and  that  indicated  by 
the  prophets  results  mainly  from  the  unification  and 
organic  combination  of  the  idea  of  the  Messias  and 
the  idea  of  the  servant  of  God,  effected  in  the  self-con- 
sciousness of  Christ,  and  that  it  is  only  in  the  announce- 
ments of  the  second  coming  of  Christ  in  His  glory 
that  the  features  of  the  prophetic  picture  of  the  Messias 
emerge  in  their  full  brilliance. 

Christ  relates  also  to  Himself  in  the  same  way  what 
is  prophesied  of  the  servant  of  God,  i.e.  the  theocratic 
community  of  the  Old  Covenant,  who  were  in  Jehovah's 
service.  His  explanation  of  Isa.  61.  1  f .  in  the  syna- 
gogue at  Nazareth  :  "  This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled 
in  your  ears,"^  already  implies  this ;  and  of  the  saying 

'  Luke  4.  21. 


Neiv  Testament  Fulfilment.  303 

in  Isa.  53.  12,  He  says  expressly  that  it  must  be  ful- 
filled in  Himself.^  But  even  in  the  vaguer  references 
to  Old  Testament  prophecy  regarding  His  sufferings 
and  death,  and  the  glory  that  should  follow,-  He  has 
without  doubt,  besides  Ps.  22,  the  prophecy  regarding 
the  servant  of  God  in  Isa,  53  chiefly  in  view.  He  is, 
consciously  to  Himself,  the  personal  Mediator  of  salva- 
tion, Who  has  come  forth  from  Israel  and  is  a  member 
of  that  nation,  in  "Whom  the  theocratic  community  of 
the  Old  Covenant  fulfils  the  prophetic  and  priestly 
calling  entrusted  to  it,  and  in  Whom,  therefore,  all  the 
Divine  thoughts  of  the  substitutionary  sufferings  of  the 
servant  of  God  and  their  fruit  and  reward  necessarily 
find  their  fullest  realisation.  In  Him,  as  Centre  of 
the  theocratic  community  of  the  Old  Covenant,  its 
God-ordained  Head  and  mediatorial  Eepresentative, 
the  Bearer  of  its  prophetic  and  priestly  office  for 
humanity,  the  prophec}^  regarding  the  servant  of  God 
attains  the  goal  Divinely  intended  in  the  scheme  of 
historical  revelation.  Thus  the  ideal  collective  person- 
ality becomes  in  the  fulfilment  an  individual  Person, 
in  Whom  what  was  said  of  the  former  must  now  be 
fulfilled.  Hence  it  is  with  good  ground  that  the 
apostles  also  find  all  the  predictions  of  the  prophetic 
ministry^  and  the  vicarious  death*  of  the  servant  of 
God  fulfilled  in  Christ. 

But  Christ  also  regards  the  prophecy  of  the  visible 

^  Luke  22.  37. 

-'  Mark  9.  12,  Matt.  26.  54,  Luke  24.  25  S.  44  S. 

»  Matt.  12.  17  ff.  ^  Acts  8.  32  ff.,  1  Fet.  2.  22  tf. 


304         TJic  Relation  of  Messianic  Propluey  to 

appearance  of  Jehovah  in  the  angel  of  the  covenant  for 
judgment  and  redemption  as  fulfilled  in  His  person. 
This  appears  without  ambiguity  in  His  express  declara- 
tion that  His  own  forerunner,  John  the  Baptist,  was 
the  Elias  who,  according  to  prophecy,  should  prepare 
the  way  for  the  coming  Jehovah.^     When,  in  the  light 
of  the  fact  that  the  highest  expression  of  hostility  to 
the  truth  of  God  that  converted  Israel  has  penitently 
to  bewail  consists  in  the  crucifixion  of  the  Messias, 
who  is  at  the  same  time  the  greatest  of  the  God-sent 
prophets,  the   prophecy  in    Zech.    12.    10    ff.    also   is 
stripped  of  its  typical  veil  and  referred  to  Christ,^  and 
when  we  say  that  He  is  not  only  the  Messianic  King 
but  also  the  ]\Iessianic  High  I'riest  whom  Zechariah's 
prophecy  had  placed  beside  the  former,  we  may  see  in 
such  procedure  simply  a  further  application  and  carry- 
ing  out   of  Christ's   own   apprehension    of   prophecy. 
Similarly,  all  the  New  Testament   indications   of  the 
fulfilment   in    Christ  of   such   Scriptures   as   those   in 
which    we    can    recognise    Messianic    prophecies    only 
because  of  their  essentially  typical  structure,  are  but  a 
further  carrying  out  of  the  understanding  of  prophecy 
offered  by  Christ  Himself.      The;!  also  find  footing  in 
the  certainty  that,  according  to  the  eternal  counsel  of 
God,  Christ  is  the  accomplisher  of  the  whole  saving 

*  Matt.  11.  lO-li,  17.  10  tl'.  This  important  feature  in  the  Self- 
testimony  of  the  Synoptical  Christ,  which,  not  less  than  the  much- 
tliscnssed  passage,  Matt.  11.  27,  has  points  of  connexion  with  thp 
Self-testimony  of  the  Johanniiie  Christ,  has  not  yet, been  properly 
attended  to. 

-  John  19.  37,  Kev.  1.  7. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  305 

purpose  of  God,  and  that  therefore  also  the  prophetic 
substance  of  all  those  Scriptures  which  express  God's 
eternal  thoughts  of  salvation  in  application  to  definite 
historical  or  specifically  Old  Testament  circumstances 
(express  them,  therefore,  in  typical  veil),  finds  its  God- 
intended  goal  of  ultimate  reference  in  Christ  as  the 
end  of  historical  revelation, — a  reference  which,  of 
course,  frequently  became  apparent  to  the  apostles 
themselves  only  after  the  event,  as,  indeed,  is  several 
times  expressly  remarked,^  and  which  they  for  the 
most  part,  discarding  the  historical  sense,  keep  ex- 
clusively in  view,-     Hence  also  the  plan  they  usually 

1  John  20.  9,  2.  22. 

^  A  more  detailed  exposition  of  the  subject  of  the  New  Testament 
eitations  of  OKI  Te.stanient  iirophecies  lies  beyond  the  domain  of  our 
task.  AVe  add  here,  in  brief  appendix,  only  some  general  remarks. 
The  Kew  Testament  writers,  as  also  Christ  Himself,  throughout  regard 
the  word  of  Old  Testament  Scripture  solely  from  the  point  of  view  of 
an  interest  in  such  ap[)reliension  of  saving  truth  as  is  of  immediate 
importance  to  the  life  that  proceeds  from  God  and  is  in  Him.  It  does 
not  therefore  at  all  occur  to  them  to  ask  how  the  prophets  themselves 
imderstood  their  own  predictions,  or  how  they  were  necessarily  under- 
stood by  their  contemporaries.  Their  sole  concern  is  with  what  tlie 
Spirit  of  God  attests  in  them  for  themselves,  for  their  contemporaries, 
and  for  all  times,  i.e.  with  the  eternal  Divine  substance  of  the  word  of 
Old  Testament  Scripture  ;  and  they  therefore  regard  this  substance 
entirely  in  the  light  of  New  Testament  knowledge  given  in  Christ. 
Thus,  in  particular,  their  understanding  of  prophecy  is  throughout 
conditioned  and  determined  bj'  its  fulfilment.  This  by  no  means  im- 
plies that  their  exegesis  is  arbitrary.  It  is  only  here  and  there  that 
there  occur  individual  instances  of  interpretations  and  Scripture-proofs, 
whose  validity  and  cogency  we  must  altogether  disallow,  and  these  are 
just  the  cases  in  which  the  New  Testament  writers  employ  the  modes 
of  exegesis  prevalent  among  their  Jewish  contemporaries — particularly 
the  Alexandrian  method  of  allegorising — with  the  view  of  ofiering  a 
more  learned  and  scholarly  style  of  Scripture-proof  (Gal.  3.  16,  4.  21  fi'. ; 
also  some  of  the  minutiae  of  Heb.  7).     Apart  from  these  exceptions, 

U    . 


3  0  G         2'lic  Itclation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

adopt  ill  the  citation  of  such  passages  of  not  naming 
the  human  authors  as  those  who  have  uttered  the 
particular  saying,  hut  of  using  such  formulas  of  citation 
as :  "  It  is  written,"  "  The  Scripture  saith,"  "  God  hath 
spoken,"  "  Tlie  Holy  (Jhost  witnesseth,"  etc.,  has  a 
reasonable  ground  of  justification,  for  the  sense  in 
which  they  apprehend  such  texts  is  precisely  not  their 
historical  sense,  but  is  one  rather  that  corresponds 
with  the  ultimate  reference  of  the  prophecies  to  Christ 
as  the  end  of  historical  revelation,  a  reference  that  is 
intended  by  God  or  the  Spirit  of  God. 

We  may  add   to  the  above  a   brief  reference  to  a 

tlicir  usual  style  of  expgesis  docs  not  consist  in  an  allegorising  intro- 
duction of  alien  matter  into  the  text  of  Scripture,  but  in  a  deeply 
tliouglitful,  Divinely- inspired  exliibition  of  the  inmost  kernel,  the 
ideal,  eternal  substance  which,  though  concealed  in  a  times-adapted 
veil,  it  really  contains.  They  do  indeed  find  in  the  text  of  Scripture  a 
meaning  far  transcending  that  which  is  discoverable  by  a  strictly  his- 
torical mode  of  exposition,  and  they  regard  this  meaning  as  tlie  true 
one,  the  one  that  is  intended  by  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  but  this  meaning 
is  not  introduced  arbitrarily  ;  it  stands  in  inner  connexion  with  the 
historical  meaning  ;  and  the  apostles  did  but  follow  an  inner  necessity, 
did  but  act  in  conformity  w'ith  an  objective  law,  of  which,  of  course, 
they  were  not  themselves  as  a  rule  clearly  conscious,  when,  in  the  light 
of  the  New  Covenant,  they  understood  Scjipture  texts  in  this  higher 
sense.  The  inner  connexion  of  their  inter[(rctation,  given  from  the 
standpoint  of  fnltilment,  with  the  liistorical  sense  of  the  passages  cited, 
is  supplied,  on  the  one  hand,  by  the  ideal  substance  which,  whether 
com])ressed  into  Old  Testament  and  times-adapted  forms  or  a])plied  to 
«lefinite  circumstances,  is  really  ])resent  in  the  words  of  Scripture;  and, 
on  the  other,  by  the  Divine  teleology,  dominating  and  informing  the 
liistory  of  salvation,  in  accordance  with  which  the  char.actcr  of  a  pre- 
type  of  the  New  Covenant  belongs  to  the  entire  Old  Covenant,  inas- 
much as  all  the  Divine  thoughts,  while  attaining  vsxvntial  realisation 
in  Christ,  are  realised  only  temporarily  and  imperfectly  in  the  OKI 
Covenant.  It  was  Christianity  that  lirst  brought  to  light  the  essential 
features  of  this  typolotjiral,  as  distinguished  from  the  allefiorical,  mode 
of  exegesis.     While  historical  exegesis  ascertains  the  sense  that  the 


Nav  Testament  Fulfilment.  307 

difficulty  that  might  possibly  be  occasioned  by  our 
assertion  that  the  unifying  and  organic  comprehension 
of  the  fragmentary  glimpses  of  truth  offered  in  the 
Messianic  prophecy  of  the  Old  Testament  was  accom- 
plished only  through  its  fulfilraent  in  Christ.  It  might 
be  said,  in  that  case  the  end  of  prophecy  could  have 
been  attained  only  very  imperfectly  as  regards  the 
measure  of  insight  available  for  the  contemporaries  of 
Jesus.  In  particular,  the  offence  at  Christ's  servant- 
form  and  the  death  on  the  cross  was  very  excusable  if 
Old  Testament  prophecy  did  not  really  know  of  a 
suffering  and  dying  Messias,  and  if  the  prophetic  pic- 
text  of  Scripture  had  for  the  authors  and  their  contemporaries,  tliis 
typological  exposition  exhibits  the  significance  which  it  acquires  in  the 
light  of  the  whole  history  of  salvation  as  attaining  its  goal  in  Christ ; 
it  ascertains  its  ultimate  point  of  reference,  as  decreed  in  the  counsel  of 
God,  which  was  hidden,  but  became  manifest  when  the  time  was  ful- 
filled ;  and,  whether  to  the  consciousness  of  the  expositor  himself  or 
not,  it  has  always  as  its  substratum  the  historical  sense,  inasmuch  as 
it  does  not,  like  the  allegorising  metliod,  start  from  some  external  and 
casual  point  in  the  Scripture  text,  but  gi'ows  from  an  insight  into  its 
innermost  kernel. — Regarded  as  a  wliole,  the  Hermeneutic  of  the  New 
Testament  is  just  such  a  sound,  objectively  legitimate,  typological 
mode  of  exegesis.  The  Old  Testament  economy  constituted  still  tlie 
normal  and  immediate  intellectual  horizon  and  sphere  of  experience  of 
the  New  Testament  writers  ;  they  were  at  home  in  the  inmost  sanctuary 
of  the  Old  Covenant.  Hence  they  had  also  a  steady  and  clear  eye  for 
the  eternal  Divine  thoughts  which  compose  the  kernel  of  the  text  of 
Old  Testament  Scripture.  Their  use  of  Scripture,  moreover,  was 
simple,  devoid  of  exegetical  art.  They  confine  themselves,  as  a  rule, 
to  the  employment  of  individual  passages  as  Scripture-proofs — pas- 
sages, however,  whose  eternal  truth-substance  attested  itself  o/'i^sr//' to 
their  Christian  consciousness,  and  in  which  prophetic  testimonies  of 
the  New  Testament  salvation  came,  wholly  unbidden,  to  view.  Hence 
it  would  not  have  been  easy  for  them  to  refer,  in  a  wholly  arbitrary 
way,  just  wliat  texts  they  jileased  to  Christ  and  His  Kingdom.  For  a 
more  detailed  treatment  of  this  subject,  Cp.  Tholuck's  work,  />«-« 
Alte  Testament  im  Neuen  Testamente. 


308         Tlic  Fidation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

ture  of  tlie  !Me.ssias  corresponded  so  little  with  that  of 
the  Son  of  Man.  For  a  first  answer  to  this  objection,  be 
it  yet  again  remembered  that,  at  the  time  of  Christ's 
appearance,  the  perception  that  even  the  prophecy 
regarding  the  servant  of  God  pointed  ultimately  to  the 
one  Messianic  mediator  of  salvation,  had  attained  at 
least  its  initial  stage.  But,  specially,  it  has  to  be  in- 
sisted that  the  recognition  and  acknowledgment  of 
Jesus  as  the  Christ  could  not  have  rested,  and  ought 
not  to  have  rested,  on  tlic  perception  of  an  external 
coincidence  of  prophecy  and  fulfilment.  They  were 
necessarily  associated  with  ethical  conditions  and  pre- 
requisites. It  was  not  the  fragmentary  character  of 
Messianic  prophecy  and  tlie  one-sidedness  of  the  pro- 
phetic picture  of  the  Messias,  but  the  absence  of  these 
ethical  prerequisites,  in  particular  their  carnal  disposi- 
tion, which  clung  to  what  was  earthly  and  external, 
and  their  self-righteousness,  which  hindered  the  Jews 
and  their  leaders  from  recognising  the  promised 
Messias  in  the  Son  of  Man,  and  made  His  servant-form 
and  His  suffering  of  death  to  them  an  occasion  of  offence 
and  resentment.  "Wherever,  on  the  other  haml,  those 
ethical  prerequisites  were  present,  prophecy  could 
fulfil  its  end  in  spite  of  its  fragmentary  character.  He 
who  was  content  to  learn  in  humility  from  the  pro- 
phecy concerning  the  servant  of  God  wlio  passed  to 
glory  through  the  suffering  of  death,  how  and  by  what 
means  the  Theocratic  community  should  fulfil  their 
calling  to  accomplish  the  saving  purpose  of  God,  and 
on    \\hat   road    they    should    reach   victory  and    tlieir 


New  Testament  Fidfilinent.  309 

destined  glory, — sucli  an  one  was  already  prepared  for 
the  event  which  brought  before  him  in  Jesus  the 
promised  Messias,  not,  first  of  all,  in  the  kingly  glory 
of  the  prophetic  picture  of  the  Messias,  but  in  the 
obscurity  and  lowliness  of  the  servant  of  God.  Hence, 
to  those  who  in  the  right  frame  of  mind  waited  for  the 
Kingdom  of  God  and  the  redemption  of  Israel,  neither 
the  servant-form  of  Christ  nor  His  suffering  of  death 
offered  any  hindrance  to  their  recognising  in  Him  the 
promised  Saviour,  for  indeed  the  word  of  prophecy 
gave  them  just  the  light  they  needed  on  these  points, 
and  helped  to  remove  the  offence  which  the  death  on 
the  cross  had  occasioned  to  them  also. — The  whole 
character,  moreover,  of  Messianic  prophecy  is  opposed 
to  the  possibility  of  an  apprehension  of  its  fulfilment 
in  Christ  originating  in  the  perception  of  an  external 
agreement  between  prophecy  and  event  obvious  to  the 
eye  of  flesh.  For,  as  we  have  seen,  Messianic  prophecy 
is  not  what  the  older  supernaturalism  imagined,  essen- 
.tially  prediction  of  the  individual  concrete  events  of 
the  New  Testament  record  of  fulfilment,  but  announce- 
ment— announcement  in  great  measure  in  typical  veil 
— of  the  eternal  saving  thoughts  of  God  which  were 
to  be  accomplished  in  the  New  Covenant.  Its  ideal 
substance,  therefore,  is  the  bond  which  unites  prophecy 
to  its  fulfilment ;  and  only  he  who  was  able  to  grasp  this 
ideal  substance — these  Divine  thoughts  of  salvation — 
as  what  was  essential  in  an  apprehension  which  did 
not  cling  to  the  surface  or  to  the  letter,  but  penetrated 
to  the   depths  of  the  written  word, — an  apprehension 


310         2' lie  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophcaj  to' 

surely  always  ethically  conditioned, — was  in  a  position 
also  to  recognise  the  that  and  the  how  of  the  fultilnient 
of  prophecy  in  and  through  Christ. 

G.  Still  we  must  not  fail  to  give  here  some  special 
prominence  to  the  fact  that,  even  as  regards  the  con- 
crete historical  realisation  of  the  saving  thoughts  of 
God,  and  in  relation  to  a  considerable  number  of  par- 
ticulars here  and  there,  there  was  exhibited  a  remark- 
able coincidence  between  prophecy  and  fulfilment.  We 
do  not  mean  that  where  this  is  tiie  case  the  character 
of  Messianic  prophecy  is  so  altered  as  to  be  less  in 
need  of  psychological  media  or  less  subject  to  historical 
conditions,  nor  do  we  suppose  the  Spirit  to  have  in 
some  exceptional  way  concretely  envisaged  to  the 
prophets  certain  individual  historical  facts  of  the  New 
Testament  fulfilment,  —  the  general  rule  being  that 
such  envisaging  is  possible  only  in  the  case  of  events 
which  lay  actually  within  their  times-horizon  ;^ — what 
we  do  mean  is  that  such  instances  of  special  coinci- 
dence do  not  occur  apart  from  deep  ideal  reasons.  In 
particular,  they  arise  from  the  fact  that  the  same 
principle  of  Divine  government — prevailing  alike  in 
the  world  and  in  the  Kingdom  of  God — which  reveals 
itself  in  the  history  of  Israel  at  the  time  of  the  origin 
of  a  prophecy,  and  hence  also  assumes  such  prominence 
in  the  consciousness  of  the  prophet  as  to  inform  the 
content  of  his  prophecy  and  give  it  its  peculiar  stamp, 
has  a  similar  determining  effect  upon  the  course  and 
form  of  tlie  fulfilling  history  of  the  New  Testament. 
1  V\K  14 2  tr. 


New  Testament  FitJfilmcnt.  311 

The  circumstance,  however,  that  in  several  instances 
the  coincidence — thus   originated — between  prophecy 
and  fulfihuent  is  of  so  special  a  nature  as  to  include 
even    particular    external    incidents,    can    hardly,   we 
judge,  be  considered  by  a  living   faith   in  God  other- 
wise  than  as  Divinely  -  intended,  —  as,    so  to  speak, 
sublimated   into   the   plan  in  accordance  with  which 
God   has   associated   together    and    set    in    reciprocal 
relation  the   revelation  and   the   history   of   salvation. 
Such  coincidences  are  designed  as  finger-posts,  pointing 
to  the   deeper  and  more  essential  connexion  between 
prophecy  and  fulfilment — as  external  holdfasts,  aiding 
a  still  Aveak  understanding,  and  attracting  attention  to 
the  fulfilment  of  prophecy  in  such  a  way  as  to  en- 
courage   a    more    penetrating    investigation    into    the 
nature  of  the  bond  that  unites  these  two  correlates  of 
historical  revelation. — Such  was  obviously  the  design 
of  Christ  in  arranging  His  Messianic  processional  entry 
into  Jerusalem,  in  literal  conformity  to  the  words  of 
Zech.  9.  9.      Take  for  another  instance  of  coincidence 
Micah's  prophecy,^  that  the  Messias  will  proceed  from 
Bethlehem, — a  prediction  in  which  the  special  concern 
of   the   prophet   is    to   insist    that,   after    the    Divine 
judgment   has   plunged  it   into   the  lowest  depths  of 
degradation,  the    kingship  of   the  Davidic  house  will 
rise,  in  the  person   of  the    Messianic  king,  a   second 
David,  from  its  deep  humiliation  to  the  highest  eleva- 
tion of  power  and  glory,  starting,  in  like  manner,  a 
second  time  from   the  small  inconspicuous  Bethlehem  ; 

^  Micali  5.  2. 


312         TIlc  Rdation  of  Messianic  ProplLccy  to 

and  yet  a  prediction  which,  if  the  historicity  of  the 
record  upon  the  point  can  be  otherwise  established/ 
was  fulfilled  not  only  in  its  ideal  substance  but  also 
literally. — Quite  unassailable,  however,  by  historical 
criticism  is  the  remarkable  coincidence  of  the  New 
Testament  record  of  fulfilment  with  the  prophecy  in 
Isa.  9.  1  f.,'^  according  to  which  the  light  of  the  Mes- 
sianic salvation  was  to  shed  its  rays  first  upon  the 
inhabitants  of  the  tribal  districts  of  Zebulon  and 
Naplitali,  the  region  by  the  Sea  of  Gennesaret,  and 
the  Jordan. — An  equally  remarkable  agreement,  affect- 
ing even  details,  between  the  record  of  New  Testament 
fulfilment  and  the  words  of  Old  Testament  Scripture  is 
to  be  found,  moreover,  in  relation  to  several  points 
which  can  be  regarded  as  prophecies  referring  to  Christ 
only,  in  virtue  of  their  typical  significance.^  Tiio 
most  striking  instance  of  this  is  the  twenty-second 
Psalm,  which  presents  to  every  Christian  eye  an  un- 
mistakable picture  of  the  crucified  Christ  surrounded 
by  His  triumphant  foes.^  The  agreement  also  of  the 
picture  of  the  servant  of  God,  as  delineated  in  prophecy, 
with  the  picture  of  Christ  extends  to  several  quite 
minute  points.^  —  The  New  Testament  writers  acted 
thus  in  conformity  with  the  relation  actually  obtaining 

^  For  arguments  establishing  the  historicity  of  the  tradition  of  tlit- 
birth  of  Jesus  in  Bethlehem,  see  B.  AVeiss'  Das  Lehen  Jcsu,  i.  pp. 
236  ff. 

-  Cp.  1?.V.  [Tr.]  with  Matt.  ■i.  13  ff.,  and,  in  re,  Hf.nt.stkniikuc, 
Cliristoloi/ie,  ii.  pj).  88  f. 

'  Cp.  Oehleh,  art.  "  Wei.ssagung,"  p.  6.'i6. 

*  Cp.  Matt.  27.  43.  46,  John  19.  24,  with  Ps.  22.  vv.  8,  1  nnd  18  resp. 

5  Isa.  42.  2  f.,  r.O.  f)  ir.,  ".2.  14  f.,  and  chap.  r.3. 


Ncio  Testament  Fulfilment.  313 

between  prophecy  and  fulfilment  when  they  found  the 
fulfilment  of  Old  Testament  prophecy  in  many  cases, 
even  in  the  minutiae  of  the  evangelic  narrative,  albeit 
that  undoubtedly,  in  the  plenitude  of  their  conviction 
that  the  entire  Old  Testament  prophesied  of  Christ, 
they  gave  to  the  perception  of  coincidence  between  pro- 
phecy and  fulfilment  a  somewhat  wider  range  than 
can  be  conceded  to  it  from  the  point  of  view  of  a 
correct  historical  exposition  of  the  words  of  Old 
Testament  Scripture. — Of  a  somewhat  different  kind 
is  the  agreement  of  the  concrete  historical  realisation 
of  the  saving  thoughts  of  God  with  the  content  of 
prophecy,  which  results  necessarily  from  the  organico- 
historic  connexion  subsisting  between  the  Old  and  the 
New  Covenant.  To  this  class  we  reckon,  in  particular, 
the  Israelitish  and  Davidic  descent  of  Christ,  and  the 
circumstances  that  the  Holy  Land  constituted  the 
sphere  of  His  ministry,  the  Holy  City  the  princi- 
pal scene  of  the  events  accomplishing  salvation,  and 
an  elect  from  Israel  the  nucleus  of  the  Christian 
Church. 

7.  Through  Christ  the  Messianic  prophecy  of  the 
Old  Covenant  fulfils  itself  further  in  His  comm.unilij 
and  in  His  Kingdom.  This  fulfilment,  moreover, 
concerns  not  merely  its  announcement  regarding  the 
benefits  of  salvation  which  are  to  accrue  to  the 
people  of  God,  and,  in  general,  regarding  the  perfect 
condition  of  the  people  and  kingdom  of  God,  but  also 
what  it  says  of  the  destination  and  calling  of  the 
people  of  God,  and  the  important  consequences  which 


314         The  Relation  of  Messianic  rrophccy  to 

flow  from  their  realisation.  For  the  prophecy  regard- 
ing the  servant  of  God  did  not  by  any  means  find  a 
fulfilment  adequate  to  its  entire  content  even  in  the 
prophetic  ministry,  sufferings,  death,  and  glorification 
of  Christ.  Inasmuch  as  it  does  not,  in  its  historical 
sense,  treat  of  one  personal  mediator  of  salvation,  but 
of  the  theocratic  community  of  the  Old  Covenant,  its 
ultimate  reference  in  the  scheme  of  historical  revela- 
tion is  not  exclusively  to  Christ,  but  also  to  His 
Church  ;  and  the  eternal  thoughts  of  God,  which  it 
contains,  must  find  fulfilment,  as  in  Christ,  so  also  in 
it.  As  the  human  organ,  used  by  Christ  to  execute 
God's  purpose  of  grace  towards  humanity,  the  Church 
learns  from  prophecy  ^  her  destination  and  calling  to 
carry  the  salvation  of  God  to  the  ends  of  the  earth, 
as  is  illustrated  by  the  conduct  of  Paul  and  Barnabas^ 
in  certifying  their  commission  to  preach  salvation  in 
Christ  to  the  Gentiles  by  an  appeal  to  Isa.  49.  6, — 
thus  interpreting  prophecy  in  the  light  of  the  New 
Covenant  in  a  way  not  less  justifiable  than  the  mode 
of  referring  its  utterances  to  the  Messias.  In  prophecy 
the  Church  may  read  her  instructions  as  to  how  to 
perform  the  w^ork  of  the  Lord  ;  not  by  the  employ- 
ment of  external  power ;  not  by  a  clamorous,  violent, 
ostentatious  activity,  but  by  conserving  in  the  service 
of  love  and  truth  her  God  -  rooted  strength  over 
against  the  power  of  a  world  to  which  externally  she 
is  subject,  in  enduring  patience  and  self-denying,  all- 

'  [l.r.  specially  the  prophecy  conceruing  the  Servant  of  God. — Tu.] 
^  A'jts  13.  4(3  f. 


Netv  Testament  Fidjilmcnt.  315 

sacrificing  devotion  to  the  Lord  and  the  vocation 
accepted  from  Him.  It  is  in  prophecy  tliat  the 
Church's  progress  through  suffering  and  conflict  to 
victory  and  glory  is  typically  depicted,  and  even  what 
is  said  of  the  vicarious  and  mediatorial  significance  of 
the  sufferings  of  the  servant  of  God — albeit  that  its 
full  sense  was  realised  only  in  Christ — has  yet,  to  a 
certain  extent,  applicability  also  to  the  sufferings  of 
Christians  for  righteousness  and  the  gospel's  sake.^ 

As  Messianic  prophecy  points  ultimately  to  the 
end  of  the  ways  of  God  and  the  perfected  form  of  His 
Kingdom  upon  earth,  the  New  Testament  people  of 
God  must  still  await  its  complete  fulfilment  through 
Christ.  Christ  Himself  has  yet  to  be  manifested,  as 
the  Messianic  King,  in  His  glory ;  His  community 
has  yet  to  become  in  full  measure  what  the  word  of 
prophecy  declares  regarding  the  final  condition  of  the 
people  of  God,  and  His  Kingdom  has  yet  to  be 
extended  over  the  whole  earth  and  all  peoples.  The 
entire  historical  development  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  a  continuous  fulfilment  of  Old  Testament 
prophecy,  a  fulfilment  that  grows  gradually  but 
constantly  towards  completeness ;  indeed,  precisely 
that  to  which  from  the  first  Old  Testament  prophecy 
gives  a  quite  peculiar  prominence,  and  which,  usually, 
it  associates  immediately  with  Jehovah's  Messianic  deed 
of  redemption, — the  erection,  viz.,  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  upon  earth  in  a  form  fully  adequate,  even  in 
external  respects,  to  its  glory, — is  in  New  Testament 

1  Cp.  Col.  1.  24,  Eph.  3.  13. 


'MG         The  lldation  of  Messianic  Proi)hccy  to 

fulfilment  set  at  the  end.  In  this  reference  we  might 
say  that  the  history  of  fulfilment  strikes  out  an 
essentially  opposite  path  to  that  actually  traversed  by 
the  development  of  Messianic  prophecy.  While  the 
latter,  on  the  whole,  advances  from  the  conception  of 
the  external  glory  of  the  perfected  Kingdom  to  the 
deeper  perception  of  its  inner  essence  and  character, 
and  the  preliminary  conditions  of  its  establishment, 
in  the  former  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  founded  first 
inwardly  in  the  heart,  then  comes  its  inner  growth, 
and  it  is  only  in  the  end  that  the  inner  glory  of  the 
Church  of  God  attains  external  and  visible  presenta- 
tion.^—  But  even  the  pi'ophecies  of  the  final  conflicts 
of  the  world-empires  with  the  Kingdom  of  God  and 
of  God's  final  judgments  upon  His  enemies  are  re- 
assumed  by  New  Testament  prophecy  as  oracles 
pointing  to  the  final  stage  of  historical  development. 
This  is  a  matter  of  course  with  such  eschatological 
announcements  as  those  regarding  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead,  the  new  heaven  and  new  earth,  etc.  Thus, 
even  the  Christian  community  has  still  to  await  the 
complete  fulfilment  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Old 
Covenant.  As  we  have  seen,  however,  we  must 
beware  of  considering  all  the  unfulfilled  features  of 
prophecy — even  those  which  are  not  reassumed  in 
New  Testament  prophecy — as  predictions  still  await- 
ing actual  fulfilment. — Similarly,  as  against  a  mis- 
leading path,  a  warning  must  be  uttered  against 
seeking  in  prophecy  for  definite  preannouncements  to 
^  Cp.  AiBEKLEN,  Abhandl.  p.  790. 


Nciu  Testament  Fulfilment.  317 

solve,  as  on  the  authority  of  the  word  of  God,  in- 
dividual problems  that  may  emerge  in  the  course 
of  the  Church's  development.  Neither  Old  nor  New 
Testament  prophecy  offers  help  of  this  kind ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  only  method  used  by  prophecy  to  shed 
light  upon  the  course  of  theocratic  development  that 
lies  beyond  the  period  whicli  it  can  claim  as  its  own, 
is  to  reveal  the  fundamental  principles  and  the 
iiltimate  aim  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  If  prophecy  is 
not  to  become  a  deceptive  light,  if  it  is  to  be  con- 
served as  a  "  sure  word  of  prophec}^"  to  which  we 
"  do  well "  to  give  heed  "  as  unto  a  light  that  shineth 
in  a  dark  place,"  ^  we  must  use  it  aright,  so  use  it,  i.e., 
as  the  prophets  themselves  used  the  prophecies  of 
their  predecessors.  And,  as  we  have  seen,  they  used 
them,  not  by  way  of  discovering  from  them  the  hidden 
issues  of  particular  events  of  their  own  time  or  the 
immediate  future,  but  by  way  of  extracting  from  them 
the  fundamental  thoughts  and  laws  of  the  Divine 
government  of  the  world  and  the  fundamental 
features  of  God's  sovereign  plan,  and  of  applying 
these  to  the  circumstances  of  their  own  time.  By  such 
a  use  of  prophecy  they  came,  so  to  speak,  to  see  the 
trend  of  actual  events.-  If  we  follow  the  precedent  they 
have  set  us,  the  Divine  word  of  prophecy  will  yield  us 
the  service  it  is  intended  to  yield  ;  we  have  in  it  "  a 
sure  standard  of  judgment,"  ^  applicable  to  the  con- 
ditions, efforts,  and  movements  of  our  OM'n  time,  and 

^  2  Pet.  1.  19.  ^  Dadurch  ^viinhu  xic  i'lher  diem  orientiert. 

«  Cp.  Bkhtheau  (1859),  pp.  331  I'. 


318         The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophecy  to 

are  not  in  clanger  of  being  carried  headlong  by  the 
])revailing  currents  of  the  time,  or  of  becoming  the 
victims  of  false  hopes  or  groundless  fears.  "VVe  learn 
more  and  more  to  regard  contemporary  history  in  that 
liigher  light  in  which  it  also  appears  as  part  of  the 
road  that  conducts  to  the  final  goal  of  the  ways  of 
God. — As  to  particular  periods  of  Theocratic  develop- 
ment yet  to  come  in  the  hidden  counsel  of  God, — 
about  which  so  many  expositors  of  the  Apocalypse 
pretend  to  know, — we  know  and  need  know  nothing. 
Enough  surely  that  in  watchfulness,  readiness,  and 
joyous  hope  we  look  stedfastly  towards  that  final 
goal,  regarding  the  history  of  our  own  time  as  part  of 
the  road  thither.  Not  even  the  prophets  themselves 
in  their  own  time  knew  more. 


A  review  of  our  entire  argument  is  surely  fitted  to 
yield  the  conviction  that  we  lose  nothing  by  a  strict 
adherence  to  the  historical  mode  of  expounding  Old 
Testament  prophecy,  and  that,  in  particular,  the  beliefs, 
that  salvation  through  Christ  was  preannounced  by 
the  Divine  prophetic  word  throughout  a  series  of 
centuries,  and  that  all  the  promises  of  God  are  "  yea 
and  amen"  in  Christ,  remain  unshaken.  We  were  not 
at  all  able  to  ascribe  to  the  prophets  any  such  great 
measure  of  knowledge  of  the  saving  purpose  of  God,  or 
to  acknowledge  any  such  great  number  of  individual 
prophecies  as  definitely   referring  to  Christ,  as  those 


New  Tedament  Ftdjilmcnt.  319 

are  wont  to  do  who  continue  to  look  at  prophecy 
from  the  standpoint  of  a  one-sided  siipernaturalisni, 
or  are,  at  any  rate,  still  influenced  by  the  after-effects 
of  this  tendency.  Yet  the  Divine  purpose,  which  so 
ordered  historical  revelation  that  all  Old  Testament 
prophecy  should  point  ultimately  to  Christ,  has  stood 
our  tests  also.  But,  it  may  be  asked,  does  our 
somewhat  roundabout  procedure — starting,  as  it  does, 
from  an  exact  definition  of  the  historical  sense  of 
prophecy — yield  any  positive  or  more  than  merely 
theoretic  gain  ? 

Do  not  those  come  by  a  much  shorter  road  to  the 
same  goal  who  say,  with  Hengstenberg  and  Keil  ^ : 
The  question,  what  thoughts  the  prophets  had,  as  the 
result  of  inquiry  regarding  the  oracles  they  were 
inspired  by  the  Spirit  of  Christ  to  utter,  is  not  of  any 
special  importance ;  our  only  business  is  to  look  in  the 
light  of  New  Testament  fulfilment  to  what  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  has  announced  and  revealed  to  us  in  the 
utterances  of  the  prophets  ?  May  we  not,  moreover, 
appeal  to  the  example  of  Christ  and  the  apostles,  who 
also  did  not  investigate  the  historical  sense  of  the 
words  of  Old  Testament  Scripture,  but  looked  only  to 
what  the  Old  Testament  was  found  to  say  when 
considered  in  the  light  of  the  New  ?  Our  first 
answer  is :  Our  relation  to  the  Old  Testament  is 
somewhat  different  from  that  of  Christ  and  His 
apostles,  in   so  far   as  we   have  not   an  acquaintance 

^  Hengstenberg,  Chribtohijlc ,  iii.  2,   p.  204.      Keil,   Kovuucnfar 
zu  Hcsekiel,  p.  521,  note. 


320         The  Relation  of  Messianic  Prophccij  to 

with  the  Old  Testament  economy,  bcased,  as  theirs  was, 
upon  immediate  intuition  and  experience,  and,  in 
particular,  we  should  incur  the  charge  of  a  blinded 
self-exaltation,  if  we  were  to  credit  ourselves  with  the 
same  deep  insiglit  which  enabled  the  Lord  Himself 
to  grasp  and  to  exhibit  with  distinctness  and  certainty 
the  eternal  thoughts  of  God  contained  in  the  words  of 
Old  Testament  Scripture.  True,  our  principal  concern 
also  in  the  practical  use  of  the  Old  Testament  is  with 
what  the  word  of  prophecy  says  to  us,  and  we  have 
therefore  to  understand  and  expound  it  in  the  light  of 
the  New  Covenant ;  this,  however,  we  cannot  do  with 
clearness  and  certainty,  if  we  have  not  first  ascertained 
its  historical  sense.  Failure  in  the  latter  respect  leads 
exegesis  astray.  Surely  the  history  of  Old  Testament 
exegesis  in  the  Christian  Church  testifies  only  too 
loudly  to  the  extent  to  which,  in  consequence  of  the 
neglect  of  the  historical  sense  of  prophecy,  genuine 
typological  exposition  degenerated  into  an  uncertain 
and  arbitrary,  an  allegorising  and  dogmatising  Her- 
meneutic,  introducing  everywhere — even  in  the  wrong 
place  —  references  to  Christ  and  properly  Xew 
Testament  apprehensions,  and  often  enough  thereby 
overlooking  the  Divine  thoughts  actually  contained 
in  the  word  of  Scripture,  so  dissipating  its  inherent 
force.^  There  is  no  security  from  the  risk  of  falling 
into  the  errors  of  this  Hermeneutic  apart  from  a  clear 

'  Cp.  my  lecture,  Ucher  die.  beaondere  Bcdeutitug  den  Alien  Ttsla- 
vifutcH  fur  die  rtl'Kjid'ie  Erkenntnins  viid  dan  reJUjiCmt  Lthen  dtr 
rhrlxUkhen  Onnfuidc  (Halle  1864),  i>i).  23  \t 


Nev)  Testament  Fulfilment.  321 

insight  into  the  historical  character  of  prophecy,  and 
the  relation  of  its  historical  sense  to  New  Testament 
fulfilment.  Similarly,  it  is  this  insight  alone  which 
can  save  us  from  that  Judaising  over -estimation  of 
the  specifically  Old  Testament  envisaging  forms 
contained  in  prophecy  which,  in  a  practical  regard,  is 
by  no  means  inconsiderable,  as  it  not  only,  in  par- 
ticular, influences  hurtfully  the  mission  to  the  Jews, 
but  has  also — as  shown  by  certain  sectarian  move- 
ments in  our  own  time  —  proved  itself  capable  of 
leading  to  fantastic  errors  in  other  directions. 

Furthermore,  we  consider  ourselves  warranted  in 
asserting  with  confidence  that  our  plan  of  doing  full 
justice  to  the  historical  sense  of  Messianic  prophecy 
brings  the  gain  of  a  more  complete  apprehension  of 
the  Divine  revelation,  preparatory  to  Christ  and  His 
Kingdom,  which  it  contains,  as  well  in  its  historical 
reality  as  in  its  true  character  and  wonderful  glory — 
a  glory  worthy  of  the  Divine  educative  wisdom.  For 
the  reader,  who,  in  unconcern  for  the  historical  sense, 
imports  into  the  utterances  of  prophecy  apprehensions 
which  came  to  light  only  with  the  New  Testament 
fulfilment,  these  utterances  neither  disclose  their  full 
living  substance,  nor  is  there  any  accompanying 
feeling  that  he  stands  on  secure  historical  ground ; 
such  a  reader,  indeed,  renounces  from  the  first  a  clear, 
historically -grounded  apprehension  of  the  wonderful 
contrivances  which  the  educative  wisdom  of  God 
employed  to  train  Israel  for  the  New  Covenant.     The 

more,  on  the  other  hand,  we  learn  to  understand  the 

X 


322  TJic  Relation  of  Messianic  Propliery  to 

individual  prophecies  in  their  or^anico  -  genetic  con- 
nection with  the  religious  life  of  tlie  Okl  Testament 
covenant-people,  and  in  their  relativity  to  tlie  concrete 
liistorical  circumstances  of  the  time  of  their  origin, 
the  more  do  they  give  us  the  impression  of  the  fresh 
forceful  vitality  peculiar  to  what  is  liistorically  actual. 
And  when  we  come,  further,  to  see  liow  tliese  indi- 
vidual prophecies,  starting  as  they  do  from  different 
points,  each  one  announcing  fragmentarily  only  indi- 
vidual momenta  of  the  saving  purpose  of  God,  and  all 
keeping  more  or  less  within  the  limits  of  Old  Testa- 
ment apprehension,  yet  find  in  Clirist  their  unified 
fulfilment,  transcending  all  previous  conception,  there 
emerge  to  view  in  more  tangible  liistoric  reality  the 
governing-policy  (das  Walten)  of  the  spirit  of  revela- 
tion in  the  prophets,  and  the  educative  work  of 
Jehovah  preparatory  to  Christ,  and  we  gain  also, 
provided  we  still  retain  some  sense  of  "  the  joy  in  the 
green  germ-thoughts  and  the  original  wealth  of  ideas 
of  Holy  Scripture  in  its  festive  spring  -  attire,"  ^  a 
deeper  insight  into  the  adorable  glory  of  this  educative 
work.  For  it  is  not  the  man  who  sees  a  landscape 
only  when  everything  is  green,  but  rather  he  who  lias 
been  able  to  watch  the  sprouting,  budding,  and  gradual 
blooming,  whom  the  beauty  of  spring  impresses  most 
deeply  with  the  sense  of  the  glory  of  God  as  revealed 
in  nature ;  even  so,  he  does  not  gain  the  deepest 
insight    into    Divine    revelation,   who  thinks   to    find 

'  Words  of  LiJCKK  in  liis  iircfact-  to  the  'iiid  cil.  of  hk  Wkitr's 
Koiiuneiit.  ztir  Offtnh.  Joli.  p.  13.     See  Ajipeiidix  A,  Note  VIII. 


New  Testament  Fulfilment.  ■  323 

saving  truth  everywhere  in  Holy  Scripture  in  its 
fully  -  developed  New  Testament  form,  but  rather  he 
who  has  an  open  eye  also  for  its  gradual  coming  to 
the  light  in  the  spirit  of  the  Theocratic  heroes  of  the 
Old  Covenant. 


APPENDICES. 


^.— NOTES. 

I.  P.  21.  Sentence  indicated  by  note  1.  It  is  only 
fair  to  give  the  German  of  this  difficult  sentence  :  "  Die 
iiusseren  Sinne  ruhten  dabei  ganz;  das  verstandige 
Bewusstsein  (der  noils)  war  vom  pnciXma  iiberwaltigt, 
und  zwar  so,  dass  es  allerdings  nicht  pausierte,  vielmehr 
erhoht  und  armiert  wurde  und  der  intellektuellen  Ans- 
chauung,  soweit  es  moglich  ist,  in  ihrem  Fluge  zu 
folgen  suchte,  aber  doch  hinter  ihr  in  bescheidener 
Entfernung  zuriickbleiben  musste,  sich  zur  Hohe  der 
unmittelbaren  Erkenntnisse  nicht  zu  erheben  vermochte, 
liberhaupt  nur  in  einem  untergeordneten,  dienenden  Ver- 
haltnisse  zu  dem  Vermogen  der  inneren  Wahrnehmung 
stand"  (Germ.  p.  16).  The  motive  and  difficulty  of  the 
view  of  inspiration  here  indicated  are  fully  set  forth  by 
Eiehm  (see  esp.  p.  23,  note).  Hengstenberg  would 
safeguard  the  reality  of  inspired  certainty  by  inventing 
for  it  a  special  faculty — the  "  intellektuelle  Anschau- 
ung  "  or  "  innere  Wahrnehmung."  The  al  »ove  sentence 
describes  his  attempt  to  explain  the  relation  of  this 
faculty  to  the  ordinary  thinking  powers.  Manifestly, 
however,  Hengstenberg  only  gets  rid  of  one  difficulty  to 
become  involved  in  another.  He  is  deceived  by  his 
own  metaphor  of  the  diencndes  Verhdltniss.  Is  it  at  all 
easier  to  conceive  of  God  as  acting  upon  the  human 
spirit  through  the  medium  of  a  process  within  the  mind, 
in  which  the  mind  itself  (as  rational  self-consciousness) 


326  Appendices. 

does  not  participate,  than  to  conceive  of  Him  as  acting 
upon  it  dirccihj,  and  in  such  a  way  that  the  mind,  while 
acknowledging  its  deht  to  revelation  and  correlative 
ijispiration,  yet  claims  the  new  truth,  once  it  has  grasped 
it,  as  wholly  its  own  ?  The  latter  is  Eiehm's  view.  He 
does  not  philosophise  upon  it,  nor  claim  for  it  freedom 
from  all  difficulty.  What  dithculty  there  is  in  it  is 
God's  affair,  not  ours.  Faith  leaves  the  difficulty  with 
Him,  assured  that  He  is  able  to  deal  with  it  without 
any  breach  of  the  laws  He  has  Himself  imposed  upon 
the  mind  of  man.     See  in  re  Riehm,  p.  45,  note  2. 

II.  r.  32,  note  1.  "  Widirend  er  in  den  prophetischen 
Schriften  die  'Zuthaten'  und  '  Ausschmiickungen '  als 
zwar  nicht '  direkt  gottlichen,'  aber  doch  als  '  gottmen- 
schlichen  Inhalt '  anerkennt  (ii.  p.  357),  will  er  die 
historischen  Biicher  des  Alten  Testamentes  im  einzelnen 
und  so  auch  in  ihren  Aussagen  liber  die  Propheten 
darauf  angesehen  und  nach  der  Norm  des  prophetischen 
Selbstzeugnisses  beurteilt  wdssen,  '  ob  sich  dem  gott- 
lichen Korn  menschliche  Spreu  in  der  Tradition  beige- 
mischt  hat ' "  (ii.  p.  318).  It  is  uncertain  whether  the 
"  prophetic  self-testimony "  is  not  to  be  taken  in  the 
more  restricted  sense  of  the  testimony  of  the  p>rophets 
regarding  themselves.  The  note  is  to  be  interpreted  in 
the  light  of  the  sentence  in  p.  31,  "  Still  Konig,"  etc. 
Tests  applied  to  is  literally — and  perhaps  ought  to  have 
been  rendered — norm  of. 

III.  P.  33.  Bid  to  require,  etc.  The  reference  is, 
of  course,  to  the  idea  of  accommodation.  Eiehm  objects 
to  a  use  of  a  sober  and  legitimate  hypothesis,  which 
reduces  it  to  wliat  he  calls  an  "  abenteuerliche  Kari- 
katur."  The  next  sentence,  perhaps,  hardly  expresses 
the  original.  It  should  l)e  read  with  an  emphasis  on 
the  word  7im  ("necessarily  led  him").  Konig's  "candour" 
is  commendable,  in  so  far  as  it  led  him  to  acknowledge 
the  historical  limitations  of  prophecy.  But  this  critical 
candour,  when  exhibited  by  one  who  lielieves  that  God 


A.— Notes.  327 

accommodates  Himself  primarily  to  the  sf?2sc-faculties, 
leads  to  very  extraordinary  results  (cp.  esp.  p.  30,  note). 

IV.  P.  66,  note  1.  Book  of  the  Four  Covenants  (Vier- 
Ijundesbuch),  so  called  from  the  four  covenants  (Adam, 
Noah,  Abraham,  Moses),  includes  Ex.  25-40  (except 
32-34),  nearly  the  whole  of  Leviticus,  Num.  1-10, 
15-19,  25-36,  with  a  certain  thin  thread  of  narrative 
pervading  the  whole  I'entateuch  and  the  Book  of  Joshua. 
Ewald  calls  it  the  Book  of  Origins.  Its  first  name 
wjis  the  Elohistic  Document  (from  the  constant  use  of 
'Elohim  as  the  Divine  name),  and  up  i\\\  recently  it 
was  generally  known  by  the  name  Grundsclirift  ("  main 
stock  "),  an  appellation  founded  upon  the  belief  that  it 
was  the  earliest  document  of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  and 
therefore  in  some  sense  the  substratum  of  the  whole. 
Since  the  publication  of  Wellhausen's  Prolegomena,  1878 
(Eng.  transl.,  A.  &  C.  Black),  the  so-called  "  Grafian 
Hypothesis,"  according  to  which  the  Grundsclirift  is 
not  the  earliest,  but  the  latest  of  the  documents  of 
the  Hexateuch  {i.e.  the  Pentateuch  and  Joshua)  has 
become  popular  among  scholars.  The  Grundsclirift 
appears  now  as  the  Priestly  Code,  and  is  regarded  as 
directly  authoritative  only  as  testifying  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  religious  standpoint  prevalent  in  the  time 
of  Ezra.  It  will  be  observed  that,  while  Kiehm  does 
not  commit  himself  to  the  new  view  (the  sentence  to 
which  we  here  refer  rather  assumes  the  correctness  of 
the  old  view),  he  is  careful  to  base  no  argument  upon 
what  would  be  inconsistent  with  either  the  one  or  the 
other  (see  esp.  p.  65,  note  2).  On  the  whole  subject, 
cp.  Wellh.  Prol,  Eng.  transl.  pp.  6  ff.,  17-293,  376  ff., 
392  ff.;  and,  for  a  clear  and  simple  statement.  The  Old 
Testament  in  the  Jewish  Church,  W.  K.  Smith :  A.  &  C. 
Black,  Edinburgh  1881,  pp.  208  ff 

V.  P.  80.  But  the  attainment  of  ivliich,  etc.  The 
rendering  is,  perhaps,  rather  free.  The  German  is : 
"  Welches  (Ziel)  zu  erreichen  aber  sein  gottlicher  Beruf 


328  Appendices. 

unci  seine  Bestimung  sei,  und  zu  dem  es  auch  am 
Elide  kraft  des  gottlichen  Erwahlungsratschlusses 
gewiss  gelangen  werde "  =  To  attain  which  <joal  was, 
however,  his  Divine  calling  and  his  destination,  and 
luhich  goal  he  ironkl  certainly  in  the  end  reach,  in  vii'tne 
of  the  Divine  elective  decree. 

YI.  P.  149.  And  if  his  hope,  etc.  Sentence  marked 
by  note  3;  Germ.  pp.  110-111:  "Wie  sollte  er  also, 
wenn  ihm  seine  Hoffnung  das  letztere  als  ein  nahes 
vergegenwiirtigt,  bei  der  Schilderung  dessellien  nicht 
auch  in  seine  Gegenwart  hineingreifen."  There  seems 
to  be  a  half- conscious  resonance  between  the  words 
rergegenivilrtigt  and  Gegenwart  which  I  have  tried  to 
reproduce.  Tlie  sentence  is  awkwardly  constructed, 
and  it  may  fairly  be  doubted  whether  the  sein  in  seiiu 
Gegcnivart  relates  to  tlie  Undzicl  or  to  tlie  prophet  him- 
self— probably  to  the  latter,  though,  in  that  case,  the 
aach  seems  peculiar.  The  translation  seems  to  favour 
the  reference  to  the  former,  and  I  have  allowed  the 
sentence  to  remain  as  I  wrote  it  first,  because  it  seems 
to  bring  out  the  resonance  al)Ove  noted,  without  in 
the  least  degree  altering  the  author's  meaning,  more 
effectively  than  a  sentence  altered  to  suit  the  strictly 
correct  reference  of  the  possessive  pronoun  could  have 
done. 

VII.  P.  201,  note  2.  The  German  of  the  italicised 
words  is :  "  Dass  Jehova  selbst  kommen  werde,  um 
seinen  Einzug  im  Tempel  zu  lialten  und  diesen  fiir 
ewig  zur  Stiitte  seiner  Wohnung  zu  machen."  The 
preposition  im  (before  Tempel)  seems  to  refer  both  to 
the  verb  halten  and  the  noun  Einzug,  though  the  latter 
reference  involves,  of  course,  a  slight  grammatical 
inaccuracy. 

VIII.  1*.  322,  note.  The  sentence  from  which  these 
words  are  taken  may  liei'e  be  quoted  in  full,  as  an 
interesting  statement  of  the  view  of  the  function  of 


A.— Notes.  329 

Scripture  which  Eiehm  himself  favours  (I  italicise  the 
words  which  Eiehm  quotes) :  "  Wenn  man  jetzt  wieder 
darauf  ausgeht,  in  der  Exegese  alle  theologischen  In- 
strumente  und  Stimmen  gleichsam  zu  einem  theolo- 
gischen Universalconcert  zu  vereinigen,  als  ware  die 
Exegese  die  ganze  Theologie,  da  sie  doch  nur  ihre  Wur- 
zel  oder  ihr  Grundbau  ist,  oder  wenn  man  wieder  Lust 
zeigt  und  darnach  shebt  an  die  Stelle  der  freien  wissen- 
schaftlichen  Auslegung  in  ihrer  Gebundenheit  durch  das 
gemeinsame  Princip  der  evangelischen  Kirche  die  con- 
fessionell  beschrankte  kirchliche,  und  an  die  Stelle  der 
wissenschaftlichen  hermeneutischen  Norm  die  Norm 
der  symbolisch  gewordenen  dogmatischen  Formel  zu 
setzen,  M^enn  man  endlich  sich  gar  nicht  mehr  verstehen 
will  ai(f  die  Freude  an  den  grilnen  Keimgedanhcn  und 
an  der  ursprilnglichen  Ideenfitlk  der  heiligen  Schrift 
in  ihrem  FrilhlingsschnmicJce,  sondern  nur  darauf  aus 
ist,  die  Schrift  zu  einer  Scheuer  voll  eingesammelter 
und  ausgedroschener  Aehren  dogmatischer  Begriffe  von 
sonst  und  jetzt  herabzusetzen, — so  wiirde  de  Wette  mit 
alien  geistig  lebendigen  und  frischen  Theologen  gegen 
dergleichen  schoiastische  Barbareien  welche,  wie  die 
Geschichte  lehrt,  nur  zu  Entkraftigungen,  Abschwach- 
ungen  und  Verwahrlosungen  des  ursprlinglichen  Gottes- 
u.  Herrnwortes  in  der  Schrift  fiihren,  den  entschiedensten 
Protest  eingelegt  haben,  wie  er  es  audi  schon  gethan  hat 
in  Beziehung  auf  die  Anfange  und  Vorboten  solcherVerir- 
runsen," 


330 


Appendices. 


i>'.— INDEX  TO  SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES  CITED 
BY  RIEHM. 


(Nos.  to  the  riglit  show  the  pages  where  references  occur  ; 
c.  and  c a.  =^ chapter f  chapters  ;  ps.— psalm.) 


Generis. 


PAGE 

29.  45, 

70,  83 

±   1011',   . 

.   99 

29.  46, 

.   70 

3.  20, 

.   93 

31.  13, 

.   72 

0.  26, 

.   69 

32.  11  tf.,  . 

.   76 

10.  10, 

.  147 

33.  16, 

.   71 

12.  2  f.,   . 

68,  97,  193 

33.  19, 

.   85 

13.  14  ir.,  . 

.   68 

34.  6,  34.  7, 

.   85 

17.  6, 

.  106 

40.  15, 

117,  259 

17.  7  f.,   . 

68,  83 

18.  18,  18.  18f., 

97,  193,  68 

LEvn 

ricus. 

18.  25, 

.   91 

10.  3, 

.   74 

21.  17, 

.   31 

10.  6, 

.  119 

22.  15, 

.   31 

11.  44,  11.  45, 

73,  83 

22.  16  If.,  . 

.   68 

cs.  17-26,  . 

66 

22.  18, 

97,  193 

19.  2, 

.   73 

26.  3ff.,   . 

.   68 

19.  36, 

.   70 

26.  4, 

.   97 

20.  8, 

72 

28.  3f.,   . 

.   68 

20.  26, 

72,  73 

28.  14, 

.   97 

21.  8, 

72,  73 

28.  15, 

.  112 

21.  15.  23, 

.   72 

35.  11  and  11  f., 

106,  68 

22.  9, 

.   72 

48.  20, 

.   97 

22.  16, 

.   72 

22.  32, 

.   72 

EXODU.S. 

22.  33, 

.   83 

6.  2-8, 

.   69 

25.  38, 

.   83 

6.  6  f.,  6.  7, 

70,  83 

26.  11  f.,  . 

.   70 

11.  5, 

.  200 

26.  12, 

.   83 

12.  29, 

.  200 

26.  40  ff.,  . 

75 

14.  19, 

.  202 

26.  44  tf.,  . 

.   75 

15.  16, 

.   69 

26.  45, 

.   83 

15.  18, 

.   85 

19.  4ff.,  . 

.   69 

Ntm 

BEUS. 

19.  5, 

67,  72,  91 

5.  21, 

.   97 

19.  6,    .     71,  ' 

^2,  117,  197 

8.  17, 

.   72 

19.  19, 

.   31 

11.  16  If.,  . 

.   87 

20.  2, 

.   70 

11.  25  tf.,  . 

42 

20.  22, 

.   31 

11.  29, 

.   87 

23.  20, 

.  202 

12.  2, 

41 

23.  21, 

.  282 

12.  6.  8,  . 

.   41 

24.  3  ff.,   . 

.   69 

14.  13  tf,  . 

.   76 

24.  7  f.,   . 

.   67 

14.  18, 

.   85 

24.  10  f.,  . 

.   60 

15.  37  ff.,  . 

.   81 

B. — Index  to  Scripture  Passages. 


331 


PAGE 

PAGE 

15.  40,   .    .    . 

.   73 

10.  6f.,   .    .    .    .  116 

15.  41,   .    .    . 

.   83 

10.  6.  10, 

.   42 

18.  19,   .    .    . 

.  259 

10.  24, 

.  109 

20.  16, 

.  202 

c.  12, 

.  107 

23.  5.  16,  . 

.   42 

12.  3.  5, 

.  282 

23.  19,    .    .    . 

.   75 

12.  22, 

.   75 

23.  21,   .    .    . 

.  106 

12.  35, 

.  110 

24.  7.  17,  . 

.  106 

13.  14, 

.  108 

25.  13,   .    .    .   1] 

7,  259 

c.  15, 
15.  29, 

.  113 
.   75 

Deuteronomy. 

16.  8.  10, 

.  109 

4.  7ff.,   . 

.   71 

16.  13, 

.  116 

4.  12.  36,  . 

.   31 

19.  20  ff., 

25,  42 

4.  35.  39,  . 

.   91 

20.  2.  12.  1 

3, 

.   40 

9.  26ff.,  . 

.   76 

22.  8.  17, 

.   40 

10.  17,   .    .    .   S 

1,  183 

22.  18, 

.  118 

10.  I7f.,  . 

.   89 

24.  7.  11, 

.  112 

17.  12,   .    .    . 

200 

25.  28, 

.  113 

17.  15,   .    .    . 

109 

25.  39, 

41 

17.  18,   .    .    . 

116 

26.  9f., 

.  112 

18.  15,   .    .    . 

299 

28.  3.  9, 

.  114 

18.  18,   . 

42 

18.  20  fl".,  .    '.    '. 

18 

2  Samuel 

18.  22,   .    .    . 

144 

1.  14, 

.  112 

29.  19,   .    .    . 

97 

3.  18, 

.  113 

30.  Ifl'.,  . 

75 

5.  24, 

.  112 

30.  6,    .    .    . 

87 

c.  6,  . 

.  114 

30.  14,   .    .    , 

61 

6.  14, 

.  118 

32.  6,    .    .    . 

113 

6.  16  ff.,  . 

.  118 

32.  39,   .    .    . 

91 

6.  21, 

.  109 

33.  5,    .    .    . 

89 

c.  7,  . 

.  102 

33.  29,   .    .    . 

182 

7.  Iff.,. 
7.  8ff,   . 

.   18 
.  191 

Joshua. 

7.  12-16.  29, 

.  117 

3.  11.  13,  . 

91 

7.  14  and  7.  15, 

.  112 

24.  19  ff'.,  . 

73 

7.  16, 
7.  23  f.. 

.  108 
69 

Judges. 

7.  27, 

.   40 

c.  5,  . 

104 

14.  17.  20, 

.  115 

8.  23,    ...   8 

9,  107 

19.  27, 

.  115 

20.  28,   ...    , 

200 

21.  1  ff ,  . 
23.  1-7,   . 

.  119 
102,  108 

ElfTH. 

23.  2, 

.   41 

4.  4, 

40 

23.  3, 

.   43 

1  Samuel. 

24.  Iff.,. 

.  119 

3.  1  ff. 

31 

1  Kings. 

4.  1  3.  18,  . 

200 

1.  31,    .    .    .    .  117 

c.  8,  10.  17-11.  15,  . 

107 

1.  35.  40, 

.  180 

c.  9-10.  16,    .    .    . 

107 

2.  19, 

.  Ill 

9.  15, 

40 

2.  26  f.. 

.  118 

9.  16,    .    .    .    . 

113 

3.  4  ff.,   . 

.  115 

332 


Appendices. 


PAGE 

PAOE 

3.  9, 89 

20.  14ff.,  .    .    .    .   42 

8.  14.  55.  6 

5, 

118 

21.  16  f., 

157 

8.  16, 

109 

22.  1, 

157 

9,  4  f., 

112 

24.  20, 

42 

9.  5,  . 

117 

26.  16  ff.. 

118 

11.  12  f.  32 

36. 

39,  . 

113 

30.  9, 

85 

11.  34, 

109 

32.  23, 

116 

14.  25  f., 

15.  4  f., 
19.  12  tr.,  . 
19.  18, 

157 

112 

31 

78 

Ezra. 
6.  21,    .           .   93 
9.  11,        .    .    .   93 

22.  8, 

144 

Nehkmiah. 

22.  17  ff., 

142 

9.  17,  31,  .    .       .85 

22.  24, 

43 

9.  30,    ....   43 

22.  28, 

41 

JOH. 

2  Kings. 

19.  26f.,  ....   60 

8.  19,    .    .    .    .  112 

31.  15,   .           .94 

8.  20, 

.  157 

33.  16,    .    .    .    .40 

cs.  11,  12, 

.  197 

36.  15,    .    .    .    .40 

11.  12, 

.  116 

^^ 

11.  17, 

12.  5ff., 

.  110 
.  114 

ps.  2, 
2.  2, 

r.sA 

LMS. 

.  102 
110,  282 

13.  23, 

75 

2.  7, 

.  113 

14,  24, 

.  180 

2.  8, 

116 

15.  9, 

.  180 

2.  8f., 

114 

16.  9, 

.  142 

9.  12, 

111 

17.  24, 

.  146 

9.  17, 

93 

18.  4  If., 

.  114 

18.  22  f., 

116 

18.  7, 

114 

18.  29-43, 

114 

18.  25, 

39 

18.  43  ff.. 

191 

19.  34, 

.  113 

18.  44-46, 

116 

20.  6, 

21.  11  ff., 
c.  22, 

.  113 

.  164 
.  197 

ps.  20, 
ps.  21, 
21.  1.  7, 

102 
102 
115 

22.  15  ff.,  . 

164,  190 

21.  4, 

117 

23.  4  ff".. 

.  114 

21.  .'), 

110 

23.  26  f., 

119,  164,  190 

21.  8'ff., 

114 

24.  3  f.. 

.  119 

ps.  22, 

303 

1  Chkonicles. 

22.  8.  1.  IS 

> 

312 

12.  18,   ....   42 

24.  1, 

91 

17.  14, 

109 

31.  1, 

78 

17.  25, 

40 

ps.  32, 

84 

22.  10  f., 

112 

33.  5, 

77,  96 

28.  5, 

.  110 

35.  20, 

90 

28.  7, 

.  112 

36.  6  f.  10 

'•> 

77 

29.  23, 

.  110 

37.  31, 

61,  82 

40.  6, 

41 

2  CiiiK 

NICLKS. 

40.  lOf., 

77 

15.  1  f.. 

.   42 

44.  1, 

.   40 

18.  23, 

.   42 

44.  9, 

.  112 

B. — Index  to  Scriiiturc  Passages. 


333 


ps.  45, 
45.  3, 
45.  4.  6f., 
45.  4f., 
45.  6, 
47.7, 
51.  11  f., 
69.  27  ff., 

71.  2, 
ps.  72, 

72.  1-7.  12- 
72.  8-11, 
72.  17, 

72.  19, 

78.  70, 

79.  6, 

85.  10, 

86.  15, 
ps.  89, 
89.  14, 
89.  20, 
89.  25, 
89.  26  If., 
89.  27, 
89.  28, 

89.  28  f.  36 
96.  6, 
96.  10, 

96.  13, 

97.  2, 
ps.  101, 

102.  8, 

103.  8, 

103.  17, 

104.  1, 
104.  3, 
ps.  110, 
110.  1, 

110.  5, 

111.  3, 
111.  4, 
116.  5, 
119.  46, 
119.  64, 
129.  4, 
143.  10, 
145.  17, 


15, 


Proverbs 


14.  31, 
16.  12-15, 


77, 


PAGE 
102 
110 

115 

114 
111,  117 
91 
82 
75 
78 
102 
114 
116 
97 
96 
109 
93 
89 
85 
102 
,  183 
109 
116 
112 
116 
114 
117 
110 
89 
77 
89 
115 
97 
85 
77 
110 
195 
102 
110,  200 
112 
110 
85 
77 
41 
96 
78 
82 
77 


94 
114 


PAGE 

17.  5, 

.   94 

20.  8.  26,  . 

.  114 

24.  21,   .    .    . 

110,  282 

Isaiah. 

1.  18, 

.   85 

c.  2,  . 

.  153 

2.  1  and  2.  1  tf.. 

42,  185 

2.  2-4, 

.  207 

2.  3f., 

.  292 

2.  5, 

.   73 

2.  6-8, 

.   72 

4.  3,     .    . 

.  273 

4.  5  f., 

.  282 

5.  9,     .    . 

.   39 

5.  25ff.,   . 

.  153 

c.  6,  . 

.   28 

6.  3, 

.   96 

6.  13, 

.  159 

c.  7,  . 

.  187 

7.  7.  16,  . 

.  143 

7.  14,  7.  14  tr.,  . 

280,  149 

7.  16, 

.  157 

7.  17ff.,  . 

.  159 

7.  18  ff.,  . 

.  143 

7.  22, 

.  159 

8.  Iff.,   . 

.  134 

8.  4, 

.  143 

8.  5tf., 

.  143 

8.  6, 

.  110 

8.  9, 

.  208 

8.  llf.,   . 

.   28 

9.  1,  9.  Iff., 

312,  161 

9.  4.  6,   . 

.  183 

9.  6,  9.  6  f.. 

280,  182 

10.  5,  15,  . 

.   95 

10.  12, 

.  161 

10.  13  f.,  . 

.  209 

10.  21, 

.  183 

10.  22 ff.,  . 

.  159 

10.  26, 

69,  286 

10.  32  ff.,  . 

.  160 

10.  33  f.,  . 

.  143 

c.  11, 

.  186 

11.  Iff.,  . 

.  184 

11.  1.  16,  . 

.   69 

11.  6ff.,  11.  30. 

26, 

99,  276 

11.  10, 

2. 

?0,  284,  292 

11.  11  ff.,  11.  11 

.  16. 

.  161,  286 

11.  14, 

.  244 

c.  12, 

69,  286 

334 


Appendices. 


PACE 

PAGE 

14.  14,    ...    .  196 

37.  11  ff.,  .    .    .    .209 

14.  24  ff.. 

.   143,  160 

37.  22  ff.,  . 

.  160 

17.  12  ir.. 

.  160 

37.  33  ff.,  . 

.  143 

IS.  3-7, 

.  208 

39.  5ff.,  . 

.  162 

18.  4ff., 

.  160 

cs.  40-66, 

.  22,  77,  78,  138, 

19.  1, 

.  195 

168,  191,  2 

10,  212,  213,  288 

19.  18-25, 

.  207 

40.  5,  40.  9f., 

.   170,  201 

19.  19  ff., 

.  261 

41.  2, 

.     96 

19.  23  ff., 

.  244 

41.  10  ff., 

78 

21.  10, 

.   29 

42.  1, 

.  170 

22.  1  ff.. 

.  159 

42.  2f., 

.  312 

22.  14  and 

22.  1 

8, 

39,  147 

4.3.  1.  15, 

.  113 

22.  21  ff.. 

.  183 

43,  10, 

.  191 

OS.  24-27, 

.  189 

43.  14, 

.   96 

24.  18ff., 

.  100 

43.  16  ff., 

4 

24.  23, 

91,  283 

43.  25, 

.  278 

25.  7, 

.  292 

44.  3, 

.   170,  273 

25.  8, 

100,  276 

44.  8, 

.  191 

26.  19, 

100,  276 

44,  28, 

.   96 

27.  9, 

.  264 

45,  1, 

.   96 

28.  7,  28.  1 

4ff., 

60,  159 

45.  1.  13, 

.   96 

28.  22, 

.   29 

45,  3, 

.  170 

28.  29, 

.  183 

45.  6, 

.  170 

29.  5tf., 

.  160 

45,  7-10.  1 

3, 

.  273 

29.  7f., 

.  143 

45,  11, 

.  113 

29.  17, 

.  161 

45.  21, 

.  181 

29.  18.  24, 

.  273 

45.  22  ff.. 

.  169 

30.  1  f.,  30 

8ff. 

42,  134 

45.  23, 

91 

30.  10, 

.   60 

46.  11, 

.   96 

.30.  12ff., 

.  159 

48.  8, 

.   40 

30.  19  ff.,  . 

161,  273 

48.  9ff., 

.   76 

30.  26, 

.  100 

48.  9.  16, 

.  278 

30.  27 ff.,  . 

143,  160 

48.  16, 

.   42 

31.  5.  8  f.. 

143,  160 

48.  22, 

,  290 

31.  7ff.,  . 

.  161 

49.  2, 

,  205 

31.  8, 

.   18 

49,  6, 

299,  314 

.;.  32, 

.  187 

49.  26, 

,  170 

32.  3f.  15, 

.  273 

50,  4 f,,   . 

,   40 

32.  9ff.,  . 

.  159 

50.  5ff., 

.  312 

32.  14, 

162,  258 

50.  11, 

.  290 

f.  33, 

.  160 

51,  6, 

.  100 

33.  13, 

.  208 

51,  7, 

61,  82 

33.  17ff.,  . 

.  161 

52.  5  f,,   . 

,   76 

33.  24, 

9 

9,  273,  276 

52,  7, 

.   91 

34.  4, 

.  100 

52,  8, 

.  201 

34.  16, 

.  134 

62,  10, 

.  170 

35.  8, 

93,  273 

c.  53, 

2] 

5,  29 

1,  303,  312 

36,  10, 

.   39 

53.  12, 

.  303 

36.  17, 

.  147 

54.  9, 

.  170 

36.  18ff.,  . 

.  209 

54.  llf.,  . 

,  275 

37.  4.  32,  . 

.  211 

54,  13, 

3,  i 

7,17 

0,  232,  274 

B. — Index  to  Scripture  Passages. 


335 


PAGE 

PAGE 

.^.5.  3-5,   . 

.  191 

3.  6-6.  30,    ...  164 

55.  7, 

.   85 

3.  16f.,   . 

130,  233,  274 

:>a.  10  f.,  . 

.   17 

3.  17, 

3,  209 

56.  3fl'.,  . 

.  275 

3.  21  ff.. 

166,  273 

56.  7, 

.  274 

4.  2, 

97,  209 

57.  20f.,  . 

.  290 

7.  23, 

.   83 

58.  7, 

.   94 

10.  24  f., 

.   75 

59.  19, 

.  170 

10.  25, 

.   93 

59.  20  f.,  59.  21, 

1    .   264,  42 

11.  4, 

.   83 

60.  If.  19  f., 

.  201 

12.  15  ff.. 

.  209 

60.  13, 

.  275 

12.  16, 

.  292 

60.  17, 

.  275 

12.  17, 

.  293 

60.  18.  21, 

.  273 

13.  13, 

.  200 

60.  19  f.,  . 

.  275 

15.  4, 

164,  190 

60.  21, 

.  170 

15.  16, 

.   42 

61.  1, 

.   42 

16.  14  f., 

4,  286 

61.  If.,   . 

.  302 

16.  19  f.. 

.  209 

61.  6, 

3,  169,  197,  232, 

17.  19  ff., 

.  129 

273,  274 

17.  25,  17. 

26,  . 

189,  129 

63.  9, 

.  202 

18.  18  ff., 

.  129 

64.  4ff.,  . 

.  214 

20.  7-9, 

.   17 

65.  8, 

.  215 

20.  9, 

.   41 

65.  9, 

.   69 

20.  10  ff., 

.   17 

65.  11  f.,  . 

.  290 

21.  22.  26, 

.   16 

65.  15, 

.   97 

22.  4, 

189,  200 

65.  16, 

.   97 

23.  5f., 

.  188 

65.  17, 

100,  169,  276 

23.  6, 

182,  285 

65.  20, 

.   99 

23.  6ff., 

.   69 

65.  22, 

.  276 

23.  7  f.,   . 

4,  286 

65.  23, 

.   98 

23.  16.  18, 

.   16 

65.  24, 

.  273 

23.26  f., 

.  164 

65.  25, 

99,  276 

23.  28  f., 

.   17 

66.  18, 

.  170 

23.  31, 

.   15 

66.  18  ff.,  . 

.   140,  294 

23.  35-37, 

.   52 

66.  21,    .  16 

9,  197,  232,  273, 

24.  7, 

i 

3,  166,  273 

274 

25.  3, 

.   23 

66.  22, 

100,  169,  276 

25.  9, 

.   96 

66.  23, 

.   100,  229 

25.  11  f.,  . 

.  165 

66.  24, 

.  290 

26.  18  f., 

27.  6, 

.  146 
.   96 

Jerei 

HIAH. 

c.  28, 

.   18 

1.  4.  7,   . 

.   28 

28.  8f., 

.  144 

1.  7,     .    . 

.   38 

28.  16, 

.  144 

1.  9,     .    . 

.   42 

28.  31, 

.   16 

1.  10, 

.   17 

29.  10, 

.  165 

1.  i7fr.,    . 

.   17 

29.  12  f.. 

.  166 

1  59.  20  f.,  59.  21.  59.  20  f.  is  at  264,  and  59.  21  at  42.  So  in 
other  instances,  where  tv)o  citations  are  put  in  the  same  line  to  rectify 
a  late  discovered  error,  and  are  separated  hy  a  comma. 


336 


Ai^pcndices. 


PAGE  1 

PAOB 

29.  22, 

.   97 

9.  1.  5,   . 

.   39 

OS.  30-33, 

.  165 

11.  5, 

.   42 

30.  9, 

.  270 

11.  19  f.,  . 

87,  168,  273 

30.  9.  21,  . 

.  188 

11.  20, 

.   83 

30.  10, 

.  292 

11.  25, 

.   42 

30.  21, 

.   121,  189,  284 

13.  2.  3.  6.  7.  17 

.   16 

30.  22, 

.   83 

13.  3, 

34,  59 

c.  31, 

.   69 

13.  22, 

.  144 

31.  1, 

.   83 

14.  11, 

.   83 

31.  14, 

.   129,  190 

16.  33, 

.  278 

31.  29  fl'.,  . 

.   130,  273 

16.  60  ir.,  . 

.   75 

31.  31  If.,  . 

.   273,  274 

16.  61ff,  . 

.  168 

31.  33  and  . 

?1.  33 ff.,  .  3,  87,  166 

16.  63, 

168,  278,  289 

31.  34, 

.   165,  232,  274 

17.  22  ff.,  . 

.  189 

32.  8, 

.   38 

20.  12, 

.   72 

32.  16  ff.,  . 

52 

20.  12  ff,  . 

.  129 

32.  18, 

183 

20.  33  ff.,  . 

.  289 

32.  38, 

83 

20.  38, 

.  290 

32.  39, 

87 

20.  41, 

.   76 

32.  39  f.. 

".  16 

6,  273 

20.  43  f.,  . 

75,  168 

32.  40, 

274 

21.  27, 

.  188 

33.  2  f.,   . 

52 

22.  8, 

.  129 

33.  3, 

9,  52 

22.  26, 

.  129 

33.  8, 

'.   16 

5,  273 

28.  24 ff.,  . 

.  293 

33.  Sfi"., 

259 

32.  11  ff,  . 

.   76 

33.  11, 

129 

34.  23, 

.  270 

33.  15, 

188 

34.  23  f.,  . 

.  188 

33.  16, 

285 

34.  24, 

.   83 

33.  17.  21  f 

> 

189 

36.  25, 

.   278,  285 

33.  18  ff., 

196 

36.  25  ff.,  . 

102,  168,  273 

33.  26, 

189 

36.  26  f.,  36.  28, 

87,  83 

37.  17, 

190 

36.  31f.,  . 

n>,  168,  278,  289 

38.  14  ff., 

190 

.36.  35, 

.   99 

38.  21, 

42 

37.  23, 

.   168,  273 

42.  4, 

52 

37.  23.  27,  . 

.   83 

43.  10, 

96 

37.  24, 

.   188,  270 

46.  26, 

209 

37.  27, 

.   70 

46.  28, 

75 

37.  28, 

.   72 

48.  47, 

.  209 

cs.  38  and  3!», 

140,  167,  294 

49.  6.  39, 

.  209 

38.  8.  11  ff.. 

.   167,  294 

49.  14, 

.   29 

38.  16.  23, 

76 

50.  20, 

".  165,  273 

39.  6, 

.  167 

39.  29, 

87,  273 

EZKKIEL. 

cs.  40-48,  . 

.  130 

cs.  1  and  \ 

0,   .    .    .   28 

40.  4, 

39,  41 

1.  26, 

.  195 

40.  39, 

.  232 

2.  8,  . 

.   42 

42.  13, 

.  232 

3.  2f., 

.   42 

43.  2ff.,   . 

.  201 

3.  10, 

39,  41 

44.  5, 

39,  41 

3.  17, 

.   29 

44.  9, 

.  131 

4.  14, 

.  129 

44.  19.  23, 

.   130,  232 

B. — Index  to  Scripture  Passages. 


337 


PACE 

PAGll 

44.  29,   .    .    . 

.  232 

8.  14, 

155,  156 

45.  8,    .    .    . 

.  189 

10.  3, 

.  109 

45.  18 ff.,  . 

.  130 

10.  11, 

.  155 

AQ.   16 ff.,  . 

>  189 

12.  2, 

, 

,  155 

46.  20,    .    .    . 

.  232 

13.  lOf., 

.  109 

47.  Iff.,. 

100,  275 

14.  1.  8, 
14.  2, 

.  289 
232,  274 

Dakikl. 

14.  3, 

,    ^ 

.  198 

2.  34ff.,   - 

.  195 

14.  4ff., 

.  159 

2.  34.  44,  . 

2.  44,  2.  44  ff.,  . 

.  276 
171,  195 

Joel, 

7.  4.  6.  11.  12,  . 

s  194 

1.  15, 

.  154 

7.  8f., 

.  171 

2.  1  f.  11,  . 

.  154 

7.  llff.,   . 

,  171 

2,  13, 

. 

.   85 

7.  11  ff.  21  ff.,  . 

.  171 

2.  lS-27, 

.  157 

7.  13f.,   .    .   193 

194,  281 

2.  28,  2.  28  f,,  2.  28  ff.,   154,  3, 

7.  14,   ,  . 

.  276 

87,  179,  273 

7.  18.  22.  27,   . 

194,  276 

3.  1.  7, 

.  157 

7.  21,    ... 

.  194 

3.  1-18, 

. 

.  157 

7.  22,    .    .    , 

.  195 

3.  8,  . 

.  206 

7.  24, 

.  195 

3.  9ff., 

.  140 

7.  25ff.,   . 

.  171 

3.  18, 

157,  158 

8.  11,    ... 

.  195 

3.  19, 

.  157 

7 

8.  17,    ... 

.  171 

4.  18, 

99,  275 

c.  9,  . 

9.  22,     ... 

.  254 
9 

Amos, 

10.  off.,   . 

195,  282 

1.  1,  . 

42 

11.  35.  45, 

.  171 

1.  3ff., 

.  142 

12.  1  ff.,   . 

.  171 

1.  6,  . 

.  157 

12.  2,    .    .    . 

.  100 

2.3,  . 

.   73 

12.  2f.,   . 

.  276 

2.  5,  . 
2.  7  ff., 

155,  156 
.   73 

HOSEA. 

3.7,  . 

, 

.   87 

cs.  1-3, 

1.  2 

1.10, 

1.11,    .    .    . 

2.  18,  2.  18  f.,  2.  18  ff,, 

2.  18.  21  f.. 

.  156 
.   41 
.  273 
.  180 
99,  289, 
273 
.  276 

3.  8,  . 
6.1,  . 
c.  9,  . 
9.  10, 
9.  111'., 
9.  12, 
9.  13, 

•   ■ 

.   17 
.  155 
.  157 

.  155 

.  179 

158,  244 

.  158 

2.  19,    ... 

.   77 

Obadiah. 

2.  20  ff.,   , 

.  159 

21,   . 

.  282 

3.  5,  .    .   109,  110, 

180,  270, 
282,  289 

Jonah. 

cs.  4-14,  . 

.  156 

4.  2,  . 

, 

.   85 

.5.  10.  12  0"., 

,  155 

5.  15-8.  3,  . 

.  289 

Micah. 

6.  4,  . 

.  155 

1.  16, 

.  159 

6.  7,  .    .    .•   . 

.   67 

2.  12, 

, 

.  159 

8.  1,  . 

.   67 

3.  5,  . 

.  144 

8.  4,  . 

,  109 

3.7,  . 

.   52 

338 


Appendices. 


PAOK 

PAfJB 

3.  8,  . 

42 

cs.  3,  6, 

121,  284 

3.  12, 

146 

148 

159 

3.  8  If,, 

193,  198 

0.  4,   . 

9 

3.  9,  . 

.     201 

4.  1-4, 

207 

r.  4,  4.  1. 

.5,   . 

200,  41 

4.  6f., 

159 

4.  7,  10, 

.     201 

4.  7,  . 

91 

5.  5.  10, 

41 

4.  8,  . 

147 

6.  4,  . 

41 

4.  9f., 

159 

6.  9ff., 

.      19:5 

4.  10, 

145, 

147 

6.  11  ff., 

.      198 

4.  11-13,  4.  11 

11 

., 

140, 

163, 

293 

6.  13, 

199,  201 

5.  1,. 

159, 

280 

6.  15, 

.     201 

5.  2,5.  2  ft'., 

311 

185 

6.  16, 

.     171 

5.  3,  . 

147 

159 

7.  12, 

.       43 

5.  4  f.. 

140, 

146 

8.  3,  . 

.     202 

5.  5  f., 

293 

8.  4,  . 

.       99 

5.  5f.  15,    . 

163 

8.  7f., 

.     253 

5.  6,   . 

147 

8.  8,  . 

.       83 

7. 7ir.,     . 

289 

8.  13, 

97,  199 

7. 8ir., 

163 

c.  9,   . 

.     182 

7.  13, 

159 

cs.  9-11, 

.     181 

7.  15, 

69, 

286 

cs.  9-12, 

.     160 

7.  18,7.  18  fr.. 

85, 

159, 

273 

9.  9,  9.  9f., 

202, 

279, 

311,  181, 

206 

N 

VHUM. 

9.  10,  9.  14, 

284, 

292,  282 

1.  3,  . 

85 

cs.  10,  11 
10.  11, 

.     182 
.     160 

Hab.\kkuk. 

cs.  12-14, 

.     189 

c.  1,  . 
1.  13, 

52 

12.  Iff., 

140,  293 

78 

12.  8, 

.     280 

2.  1,  2.  1  f.,  2. 
2.  2,  2.  2f., 
2.  14, 

l'  il'. 

'    • 

41,'  42,' 9 
52,  134 
.     209 

12.  10, 

12.  10  ff., 

13.  1,  13. 

Iff 

,  102 

,  278 

.     273 
278,  290 
285,  273 

3.  2,  . 
3.  9,  . 

29 
292 

13.  9, 

14.  3ff.  1 
14.  8, 

2  \\\ 

140, 

83 

282,  29:5 

.     275 

ZkI'HAXI.XII. 

14.  9.  16, 

.     209 

14.  16  ff., 

.     229 

2.  11, 

3.  9,  . 

100, 

209, 
209, 

261 
292 

14.  20  f., 

.     275 

M 

VLACHI. 

Haogat. 

2.  17, 

.     202 

2.  6,  . 

171 

3.  1,  3.  1. 

5, 

269, 

282, 

291,  121 

2.  7ff., 

201 

3.  1-9.  16  f.. 

.     202 

2.  21  fl'.,      . 

171, 

193 

3.  3f., 
3.  6,  . 

.     201 
.       75 

Zechauiah. 

4.  5,  4.  5 

C 

299, 

269,  291 

1.  9.  13.  14, 

41 

2.  2.  7, 

41 

M. 

VTTni;w. 

2.  10.  11.  l:i, 

202 

3.  17, 

. 

.       31 

2.  10  tr.,    . 

253 

4.  13  ff. 

.     312 

2.  11, 

83 

11.  10-14 

.     304 

E. — Index  to  Scriphire  Passages. 


139 


Romans. 


n.  14, 

.  270 

11.  2f,. 

.   47 

1.  2,     ... 

.  2,  5 

11.  27, 

.  304 

1.  16, 

.  260 

12.  17  ff.,  . 

.  303 

3.  If., 

.  260 

16.  16  f.,  It 

.  17, 

301,  47 

3.  29f.,   . 

.  260 

17.  5, 

.   31 

5.  15  f., 

.  265 

17.  10  ff.,  . 

270,  304 

6.  23, 

.  265 

19.  28, 

.  263 

9.  6ff, 

.  260 

20.  20  if.,  . 

.  Ill 

9.  24ff-.,  . 

.  260 

23.  29, 

.  263 

9.  25  f., 

.  260 

cs.  24,  25, 

.   22 

10.  12, 

.  260 

24.  34, 

.  263 

11.  1-10, 

.  256 

24.  36, 

.  148 

11.  15. 

263,  265 

26.  54, 

2,  303 

11.  25  ff., 

.  263 

26.  63  f.. 

.  301 

11.  29, 

239,  264 

27.  43.  46, 

.  312 

11.  31  f., 
15.  Sf., 

.  266 
.  259 

Mark. 

9.  12, 

.  303 

1  COKI.VTIIIAN.S 

13.  32, 

.  148 

12.  13, 

c.  14,     ... 

.   260 
25,  26 

Like. 

14.  18,    .    .    . 

.   26 

1.  7(), 

.  300 

15.  51f.,  . 

.  148 

2.  31  f., 

.  300 

4.  21, 

.  302 

2  Cor.INTHIANS 

22.  37, 

2,  303 

1.  20,     .    .    2. 

•-'97,  300 

24.  4  ff. , 

2 

6.  2.  16-18. 

.  260 

24.  25  ff.,  . 

.  303 

6.  16,    ... 
12.  Iff.,. 

.  260 

.   27 

John. 

12.  8  f.,   . 

.   51 

2.  22, 

.  305 

4.  22' 

.  255 

Galatian.s. 

4.  23f.. 

.  236 

3.  7.  29,  . 

.  260 

4.  48, 

.   23 

3.  16, 

305 

5.  39, 

1 

3.  28  f., 

260 

10.  35, 

2 

4.  21  ff.. 

305 

12.  28, 

.   31 

4.  22, 

260 

19.  24, 

.  305 

4.  26, 

237 

19.  37, 

.  304 

4.  27, 

238 

20.  9. 

Al'TS. 

.  305 

4.  28, 
6.  15, 
6.  16, 

260 
260 

260 

1.  7,  . 

.  148 

2.  39, 

.  260 

Ephesians. 

3.  25  f., 

.  260 

2.  11-22.  . 

.  260 

8.  32  ff.. 

.   303 

3.  5,  ; 

.  261 

9.  40, 

.   52 

3.  13,    ... 

.  315 

10.  9ff.. 

.   27 

13.  46,  13. 

46  f., 

.   260.  314 

Philippians. 

16,  9, 

.   30 

3.  20, 

.  237 

840 


Appendices. 


1.  -24, 
■■',.  11, 


Colossi  ANs. 


1    TllKSSAI.ONIANS. 


4.  16  r.. 


14, 


Titus. 


Ill-.ISKI'.WS. 

11.  10.  IG, 

12.  22, 

l;5.  14, 

1  Fktei:. 

2.  Stf., 

2.  22  If., 

2  ri:TKK. 

1.  lit, 

1.  21, 

1  John. 


PAGE 

260 


148 


2G0 


305 
237 
237 
237 


260 
303 


317 
122 


Rkvei.ation. 

1.7,. 

.  304 

2.  4ir., 

262,  263 

3.  12, 

.  237 

3.  21, 

.  200 

lU.  7, 

.  263 

.-.  20, 

.  168 

1^1.  2fr. 

1 0  il. 

• 

.  237 

REFERENCES  TO  APOC- 
RYPHA. 

PACK 

1  Macc.  10.  62f.,       .         .111 

14.  41,  .     299 

SiK.  48.  101'.,    .         .         .     299 


REFERENCES  TO  RABBINI- 
CAL WRITINGS. 

Book  of  Enoch,  t 
46.  1,  48.  211'..    .         .         .     194 

48.  3.  6 298 

62.  5.  7,      .         .         .         .     194 
69.  27-29,  ,         .         .         .194 

FouiiTii  Book  hi.-  Ezua  or 

ESDIIAS. 

12.  32  ff.,    .         .         .         .194 

13.  1  rt.,      .         .         .         .194 

TlIlUI)   SlliYI.LINK   Book. 

vv.  286  f.,  .         .         .     19.^ 

TaRGU.M   of   JoNATllAK    ON 

Isa.  4.  3,  22.  14,  26.  15-19,  65.  6. 

15,  at  p.  298,  ami  on  Lsa.  53. 

12,  at  ]).  299. 
Ho.s.  14.  9,  at  p.  298. 
Mie.  4.  8,  at  p.  298. 


REFERENCES  TO  CLASSICAL 
WRITINGS. 

(1)  Cicero,  De  Divinatione,  i.  50 
(113),  51  (117),  57  (129),  30 
(63),  p.  27. 

(2)  IlEiioDorrs,  iriMortfin  Ldgoi, 
i.  1.^,  103-100  ;  iv.  11,  12, 
p.  164. 


*  The  passage  Mic.  4.  10  is  discussed  at  length  in  iiote,  pp.  145-8, 
and  Dan.  7.  13  11'.  in  note,  pp.  193-6.  Zech.  6.  13,  at  pp.  199,  and 
iMal.  2.  1  ff.  at  p.  202. 

t  English  edition  of  this  work  by  Scliodde,  Andovcr,  Canada  1882. 


C, — Modern  Works. 


:]41 


C— MODEEN  WORKS  EEFEREED  TO  BY 
EIEHM. 


AUTHOR. 

auberlen,  .     . 

Baumgarten,  . 
Baur  (Gustav), 

Beetheau,  .     . 
Beyschlao, 
Bleek,    .     .     . 

Bredenkamp,  . 
Bunsen,  .     .     . 

C'ASPARI,         .       . 

Credner,     .     . 
Delitzsch,  .     . 


De  Wette, 


Diestel,  .     . 
Drechsler, 

DUHM,       .       . 


Eisenlohr,  .     . 

EWALD,    .       .       . 

Franke,  .     .     . 
Guthe,   .     .     . 

Hengstenberc, 


Hess,  J.  J., . 


TITLE  OF   WORK   OR   WORKS,    ETC. 

Der  Proj^het  Daniel  unci  die  Offmbarung  Johanni>i. 
(Clark's  Tiansl.  1856.)  See  also  below:  Mai/, 
and  Encykl.  Art. 

See  below  :  M.  and  E.  A. 

Geschichte  der  alttestamentlichen  WeisHagmu/.  Gies- 
sei),  Ricker,  1861,— on  Gen.  12.  3,  etc.",  p.  97. 

See  below  :  AI.  and  E.  A. 

Die  Christologie des  Nenen  Tesfamenfcs. 

Synoptische  Erhlarung  der  drei  ersten  Eraniielien, 
edited  by  Holtzmann.     Leipzig  1862. 

Oesetz  und  Propheten,  1881. 

Bibelwerk,  p.  195  (note). 

Ueher  Micha  den  Morasth iten.     Christiania  1 85 1 

On  Joel  3.  19,  p.  157. 

Die  bibUsch-prophetisrhe  Theologie,  ihre  Fortbil- 
dung  durch  Chr.  A.  Crndu.s  und  ihre  neueste 
Entwickelung  zeit  der  Christologie  Bengsten- 
bergs.  Leipzig  1845.  Also  various  references 
to  Commentaries:  Genesis,  Isaiah,  etc.,  and  to 
his  work,  Die  Alttestamentliche  Weismgung. 

Kommentar  zur  Offenbarung  Jokannls.  Second 
ed.  edited  by  Liicke.  Passage  cited  from  this 
work  at  p.  322  will  be  found  also  in  the  later 
or  third  ed. 

See  below  :  M.  and  E.  A. 

Kommentar  zu  Jemiaa.     Referred  to  incidentally 
note,  p.  138.  '  ' 

Die  Theologie  der  Propheten  als  Grundlage  filr  die. 
innere  EntivicMungsgeschichte  der  inraehtisclien 
Religion.  Bonn  1875.  Naturalistic  stand- 
point of  this  M'ork  criticised,  p.  19. 

Das  Volk  hrael  unter  der  Herrschaft  der  Konkip 
Two  vols.  -^  ■ 

Gesch.  des  Volkes  Israel  (Eng.  Transl.,  Longmans, 
Green,  &  Co.),  Die  Lehre  der  Bibel  von  Gott. 

Das  Alte  Testament  bei  Johannes.     1885. 
De  foederis  notione  Jeremiana.     Leipzig  1877. 
Christologie  des  Alten  Testaments  und  Commentar 
fiber  die  Messianischen  Weissarjungen.     3  vols. 
Second     ed.,     Berlin    1854-57.       Its   view   of 
mode   of  revelation    to   prophets   discussed  at 
length,  pp.  20  ff.     Moditic.  of  views  of  first  by 
.second  ed.  noted  p.  24  (note). 
Briefe   iiber  die   Offeiibarung  Johannlf.      Zurich 
Hanke,  1844. 


342 


Ajrprndicea. 


AUTHOR. 

Uiu;enkei.i>, 


TITI.K   OF    WORK    OR   WORKS,     KTO. 


Die  Jiidixche  Apokalyptlk.  ISfi".  Ividim  adopts 
liis  view  of  the  ])assage  cited  from  this  Third 
Sibylline  I'.ook,  p.  19:'). 

lIiTZiG,    .     .     .     Dill    I'm/mm.      1863.      Dip    K/iiixn    Prophetev. 

1852.     (More  recent  edition  i>y  Steincr,  1881.) 

^HoFMANK,    .     .      U'fiMsat/unif  U7id  Er/ullutHj.     1841.     Sf/in/theu;ei8. 

HupFKM),  .  .  Commi'titatio  de  primitivn  el  vera  fcHiaruni  apiid 
HtbraeoH  rationf..     1852. 

KAMni.\rsi;N.  .  Article  in  Hunsen's  Bibebmrk,  referred  to  p.  195 
(note). 

Kkii,,  .  .  .  .  Koinmenlar  zn  Hcitehid  and  other  Commentaries 
(EnR.  Trans].,  Keil  and  Delitzsch  Commentaries, 
T.  &  T.  Clark). 

Keim,  .  .  .  (I'esrhichle  Jesu  von  Nuzara.  (Knc;.  Transl., 
Williams  &  Norgate.) 

Knohki.,  .     .     .     Com.  on  Numbers,  p.  96. 

Koiii.Ei:,  .  .  .  Die  nacher.ilisrhen  Projihetin.  Erlangen  1861. 
,  KoNir.,  Fi;.  Ki).,  I),'r  OffenhnrmKjK  her/rij'  (/ex  Alfen  Testamcnifs. 
2  vols.  Leipzig  1882.  His  literalistic  view  of 
proi)hetic  revelation  discussed  at  length  by 
Ri{!hni,  pp.  29  tf.  Die  Haupfprohleme  der 
aUisraelitixchen  Pehrfionsgeschichte  ii<'<jen iiher 
den  En.twickdunc]f(fhporelih'rn  beleiir.htet.  Leip- 
zig 1884.     (Eng.'  Transl.,  T.  &  T.  Chirk,  1885.) 

Kui'EK,  .  .  .  Das  Prophetenthutn  des  Alttn  Bundes.  Leipzig 
1870.  His  view  of  the  "contents "of  a  pro- 
])lH'(!y  discussed,  pp.  9  f.  (note). 

LtJcKK,     .     .     .     See  above  on  de  Wette. 

Mkykh,    .     .     .     On  Kom.  11.  25  IT.,  p.  265.     (Clark's  Transl.) 

Oehi.ei;,  .  .  .  Prolf'<]omena  zur  Theologie  den  Alttn  TeMamentrs. 
1845.     See  also  below  :  M.  and  E.  A. 

Okemj,  vox,  .  Die  alttestamentUche  Weissaipimj  von  der  Vollm- 
dumj  des  Cottenreichen.  Vienna  1882.  (Eng. 
Trans].,  T.  &  T,  Clark.) 

l'Ki.i;ii)EitEn,  .  Die  Religion  ihr  ]yesen  vml  ihre  Geschichte. 
Rie]in>'s  reference  (p.  54)  is  to  tlie  second,  not 
to  the  latest  edition.  (Transl.,  Williams  i^- 
Norgate. ) 

l{i:u.':s,  .  .  .  Die  Geschichte  der  heiligen  Sehri/ten  Allen  Testa- 
mentes.     1881  (new  ed.  1890). 

RiEHM,  .  .  .  Lehrheqriff  des  Ilehriierhricfcs.  1858.  Hand- 
rriirli-rbuch  des  hihlisrhen  Alterthums.  1884. 
Referred  to  p.  237  (note)  in  elucidation  of 
)>hrase  "heavenly  Jerusalem."  (See  also  below 
M.  andE.  A.) 

Rotiie,     .     .     .     Zur  Do'jmatik.     1863. 

ScHKADEi:,   .  Die  Keilinschriften  und  das  Alte    Testament  con- 

iirms  Rielim's  view  of  Micah  4.  10  (p.  146). 

ScHui/rz,  Hkiim.,  Altlestamentliche  Theologie.  Frankfurt  a.  Main 
second  ed.  187S.     See  also  M.  and  E.  A. 

SiM.SDN,        .     .     On  Hos.  1.  11,  p.  180. 


l\ — 3fodern  Works. 


34o 


AUTHOR.  TITLE   OF   WORK    OR   WORKS,    ETC. 

Smenb,  .  .  .  Moses  apud  Prophetas.  187.').  See  also  J/,  cuxl 
E.  A. 

Stadk,  .  .  .  See  M.  and  E.  A .  Opinion  as  to  origin  of  concep- 
tion, Kingdom  of  God,  rejected  by  Riehm, 
p.  89. 

Stahelin,    .     .     On  Zech.  6.  13  (p.  200). 

Steiner,       .     .     On  Hitzig's  Kleimn  Prophettn,  p.  202. 

Tholuck,  .  .  Die  Propheten  und  ihre  Weissagumjen.  On  mode 
of  revelation  to  prophets,  p.  20  (note).  Das 
Alte  Testament  im  Neuen  Testament.  On  N.T. 
citations  of  O.T.  passages,  p.  307  (note). 

Yatke,  .  .  .  Bihlische  Theologie.  1835.  Opinion  on  Kingdom 
of  God,  p.  89  (above). 

Weber,  .  .  .  System  der  altsynagognlen  paliistinischen  Theologie. 
Leipzig  1880.  On  significance  of  bath  kol,  p.  31 
and  elsewhere. 

AVeiss,  Bern.,  .  Das  Leben  Jesu.  2  vols.,  1882.  Seconded.  1884. 
Third  ed.  1888.  On  historicity  of  Christ's 
birth  at  Bethlehem,  p.  312.  (Transl.,  T.  &  T. 
Clark.) 

Wellhausex,  .  Geschichte  Israels.  1878.  Prolegomena  znr  Ges- 
cMchte  Israels.  1883.  (Transl.  A.  &  C.  Black.) 
On  time  when  covenant-idea  became  central  in 
consciousness  of  Israel,  p.  67. 

WuNscHE,    .     .     On  Joel  3.  19,  p.  157. 


MAGAZINE  AND  ENCYCLOPAEDIA  ARTICLES 
REFERRED  TO  BY  RIEHM. 

I.  Allgcmcine  Missionszcitschrift — Dr.  Warneck,  referred 
to  p.  210. 

AUTHOR.  TITLE   OF   ARTICLE. 

Riehm,    .     .     .     Der  Missionsgedanhe  im  Alten    Testament,    1880, 
pp.  453  ff.,  refd.  to  pp.  98  and  210. 

II.  Evangelisclie  Kirchenzeitung. 

Hengstenberg,    Die  Juden  und  die  Christliche   Kirche,   May   1857, 
refd.  to  p.  268. 


III.  Jahrhiicher  fur  Deutsche  Tlieologie. 

AuBERLEX,  .  .  Ahhandlung  i'tber  die  messianischen  Weissagungen 
der  mosa'ischen  Zeit,  1858,  Pt.  iv.  pp.  791, 
801  ff.,  834  fif.     Refd.  to  p.  240,  etc. 


o-i-i  Ajjpcndices. 

AUTHOR.  TITLE   OF   ARTICIX. 

Heutueai',  .     .     Die  AUtcitamentliche  Weinsaginig von  Ivaels  Reich^f- 
lierrliclikeit  in  xcinem  Lande,  1859,  vol.  iv.  p. 
C03  (rufd.  to  p.  19),  and  id.  pp.  595  tl'..   and 
V.  jip.  486  if.  (p.  133,  i-tc). 
.     .     IV.  p.  352,  on  Deut.  18.  22  (p.  141). 
,,  .     .     IV.    pp.   622  and  626,   on  historical  sense  of  pro- 

phecy (p.  152). 
,,  .     .     IV.  pp.  334-353,  on  unfulfilled  projiheey  (p.  223). 

DlKSTKi,,      .     .     Dk   Idee   dcr  Ovrecldhjlceit  im  Alten    Ti'stamentr, 
1860,  vol.  V.  ])p.  176  f.  (p.  91). 
,,  .     .     Die    Idee    dci     (kcokrati.ichcn    Kuiiii/.<,    vol.   viii. 

pp.  536  if.  (p.  102,  etc.). 

IV.  Handworterbuch  des  hiblischen  Alterthums — Itielini. 

KlEHM,    .     .     .     "  Zeichen   und   AVundev" — Criticism  of  Ilcngsten- 
berg,  J).  23. 
.,         ...     "  Priester,"  on  priestly  functions  of  Davidic  kings. 

p.  118. 
,,         ...      "  Zeitrechnung,"  frequently  referred  to  in  confirma- 
tion of  dates  given  by  Kiehin. 
...     "Thron,"  on  Zech.  6.  13,  p.  200. 

V.  Realencyhlopddie — Herzog. 

B.A.UMGARTEN,  ,     "  Ezechiel,"  on  fulfilment  of  ritual  details  sketched 

by  Ezekiel  (iv.  pp.  803  f.,  first  ed.),  p.  240. 
Oehler,  ,     .     .     "  Kciuige  Kbnigthum  in  Israel,"  p.  102. 

,,         ...      "Messias"  (first  ed.  p.   414),  on  origin  of  kingly 

conception  of  the  Messiah,  p.  186. 
,,         ...     "  Weissagung,"  vol.  xvii.,  at  p.  18  e/ 7)n.<x»/H. 

VT.  Studicn  und  Kritikcn. 

RlEHM,    .     .     .     1864,  pp.  552  «'.,  on  Johanninc  Cluistology.     Kefd. 

to  ]).  2. 
,,         ...     1872,   pp.   558   fT.,  on  pro]>het's  knowledge  of  tin- 

future.     Refd.  to  p.  50. 
...     1883,  pp.  803  tr.,  criticism  of  v.  Orolli.      llefd.  tn 

p.  10,  etc. 
S.MENI),    .     .     .      Ueber  die  von  den  Propheten  des  8  JahrhuudirU 

I'Oj-auxgesefzfe     Untwickelinii/sstii/e    der    israel- 

itischen  Jhliijio7i,   1876,  Pt.  iv.  esj).  pp.  622  If. 

Refd.  to  p.  65,  etc. 

YII.  Pamijidet. 

KiKiiM,  .  .  .  Ueber  die  bemndere  Bcdeutmuj  den  A/On  Testa- 
menlii  fiir  die  reliejidse  Erkenn/niss  und  <l<ix 
reliqidse  Lehen  der  rhrisflichen  Oeineinde, 
Halle  1864.     Kcfd.  to  p.  320. 


D. — lici'cnt  Literature  on  Messianic  Prophecy.      345 


AUTHOR.  REFERKNUE. 

. S<:HL'i/rz,  Her.m.,  Ueber  doppelten  Schriftsinn,  1866,  on  acquired  Mes- 
sianic sense  of  some  of  Psalms.     Refd.  to  p.  299. 


VIII.  Zcitschrlft  filr  die  cdttcstamentliche  Wissenschaft — 
Stade. 

NowACK,      .     .     1884,  p.  286,  on  Micah  4.  10.     Refd.  to  p.  147. 
Stade,     .     .     .     1881,  pp.  1  ff.,  and  1882,  pp.  151  ff.,and  275  fi'.,  on 
date  of  Zech.  9.  11.     Refd.  to  p.  182. 


1881,  p.  10,  on  Zech.  6.  13.     Refd.  to  p.  200. 
1881,  p.  167,  on  Micah  4.  10.     Refd.  to.  p.  147. 


iA— EECENT  LITER  ATUEE  ON  MESSIANIC 
PEOPHECY,  OE  ON  THE  GEOWTH  OF 
MESSIANIC  IDEA  IN  JEWISH  HISTOEY. 

(For  the  part  of  the  lists  following  which  exhibit  the  principal 
literature  up  to  1886,  I  am  mainly  indebted  to  Mr.  Stanton's  Jeivish 
iiitd  Christian  Meftslah ;  the  part  dealing  with  the  literature  subse- 
({uent  to  1886,  I  owe  mainly  to  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  P.  Schmiedel  of 
Jena.) 

I.  Monographs. 


Anukk,  .  .  .  Vorhmuigtn.  iihtr  die  Geschichte  der  Messianischen 
Idee.     1873. 

I)ALDKNsi'eh<;ei;,  Das  Selbstbeirusstein  Jesu  im  Lichte  der  Messian- 
ischen Hoffinmgen  seiner  Zeit.  Strassburg, 
Heitz  u.  Miindel,  1888.  (For  a  review  of  this 
work,  see  art.  by  Rev.  A.  Halliday  Douglas, 
M.A.,  Theological  Heview  and  F.  C.  College 
Quarterly,  April  1889.) 

Baiion,  .  .  .  Rails  of  Messiah's  Glory.  London,  Hod.  &  Stought. 
1886.    270  pp. 

IjKJGGs,  '.  .  .  Messianic  Prophecy.  (Aims  at  complete  exegetical 
treatment  of  Messianic  passages. )  Clark,  Edin. ; 
Scribner,  N.Y.     579  pp. 

Castelli,     .     .     Jl  Messla  Secondo  gli  Ebrei.     1874. 

DelitzscH;*  .  Messianische  Weissagungen  in  geschichtlicher  Folge. 
Faber,  Leipzig  1890.     160  pp. 

*  1'iaiisl.  by  Trof.  Ciirtiss,  Cliicago.     In  press,  Clark. 


o  4  G  Appendices. 


ACrllOR.  WORK. 

Dl'.UMMOND,      .      Till' Jfiwish  Mcsxiali.     1877.     (Still  |ieiliaps  tlic  main 

P'nglish  authority  on  tliis  aspect  of  the  subject.) 
(Ji.oAC,    .     .     .      T/tr  Mi'.-<.Hi<aiic  I'rophccieH  (Bainl  Lecture  for  1879). 

Clark,  Edin. 
Hii.(;i:nfki,i>.    .     Die  J'udische  Apokali/ptik   in   Hirer  ijenchichtUchen 

Entmirhelunij.     18.')7. 
Oi;i;i.i.i,  v.,  Old   TeKtament   Prophecy  of  Hip  CotiKummation  of 

God'.t  Kinijdom.     (Clark's  Transl.) 
ItiJNHAitn,  .     .     Jhr  Welttrloscr  im  A/ten   Tedamad,  iw  fte^ovdere 

im  Biiche  Gcnvnis  und  in  den  Mythen  dcr  IJeiden- 

welt.     Publ.  by  the  author,  1888.    149  pp. 
Scott,     .     .     .     "Historical  Development  of  the  Messianic  Idea" 

{Old  Testament  Student,  1888,  176-180). 
SiANTOX,     .      .      The  Jervish  and  Christian  Mefisiah  :  A  Study  in  the 

Earliest  History  of  Clu-istianity.     Clark,  Edin., 

1886.    394  pp.    (The  latest  f/rea<  work  of  P:n<?lish 

growth. ) 


1 1.    Workii  dealing  in  part  with  the  Subject,  or  some 
aspect  of  if. 

Ai.KXANDF.n,  .  A  System  of  BihHc(d  Tlieology.  Edin.,  Clark,  1888. 
2  vols.     960  pp. 

Hattkk  (I5i:uno),  Kritik  der  EcaiujeUschen  Geschirhte  der  Synoptihr 
(see  vol.  i.  pp.  391-416).     1841. 

i>rj:rii,,   V.    in',    f^a  Lv<jende  du  Messie.     Paris  1890.     398  ]ip. 

('ANKi.isii,  .  .  The  Kingdom  of  God,  biblically  and  historically 
considered.     Edin.,  Clark,  1884. 

Cdi.am,  .  .  .  Jesus-Christ  et  les  Croyances  Messlaniques  de  son 
temps.    Second  ed.,  1864. 

Dai, MAN'.      .     .     JesaiaoS — erlduterl.     Leipzig,  Faber,  1800,  price  Is. 

DvviDsuN,  S.,  The  Doctrine  of  Leust  Thimjs  containe<l  in  the  N.T., 
compared  with  the  2i^otions  of  the  Jews  and  the 
Statements  of  Church  Creeds.  1882.  ("  Mainly 
occupied  with  a  comj)arison  of  diflerent  writings 
of  the  N.T.  ;  comp.  with  the  '  notions  of  the 
.lews'  very  slightly  tlonc." — STANruN.) 

DtJsTKinvAl.n,  .  Jyie  Wtlti-eiche  unci  das  Gottesreich  nuchdcn  Wei.-<s(i- 
(fumjen  des  Profeten  Daniel.  Freiburg- in- 
'l5a(ien,  Herder,  1890.     144  p]). 

Ekk.ksiikim,  The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Afessiah,  Book  ii., 

c.  v.,  "What  Messiah  did  the  Jews  expect?" 
188:^. 

EwAi.i),  .  .  .  History  of  Israel.  See  esp.  vol.  vi.,  Eng.  Transl., 
pp.  103-121,  besides  many  scattered  notices. 

Fkhbes,  .  .  .  The  Servant  of  the  Lord  in  Jsa.  x].-\\vi.  reclaimed  to 
Isaiah  as  the  Author  from  aniument,  structure, 
and  date.     Edin.,  Clark,  1890. 


I). — licccnt  Litrrotvre  on  Messianic  Propliccy. 


AUTHOR.  WORK. 

Hellw.vg,  .     .     "  Die  Vorstellung  von  (ler  Pniexisti'iizChristi  ill  der 

iiltesten  Kirche,"  Theol.  Jahrbb.,  vou  Baiir  u. 

Zeller,  1848,  pp.  1 44-1(51,  227-240. 
H.\r.SK.\TH,       .     History  of  the.  Netv  Testament  Trmc.^  (Kiig.  Transl., 

W.  &  N.,  1S80).     See  csp.  vol.  i.  pp.   191-206, 

vol.  ii.  pp.  222-251. 
Hoi.TZ.M.VNN,     .      "Die   Messias-Idee   zur   Zeit  Jesu,"  Jahrbb.  f.  d. 

Theol.  vol.  xii.  Heft  3,  pp.  389-411.     18(57. 
.losT,  ....     (h'xrhtchte  dei  Judenthums  n.  Seiner  Selien,  i.  309, 

396-97.     1857-59, 
K.wsF.K,       .     .     Die     Theolor/ie    des    Alten     Testaments    in    ihrer 

Geschichtlichen     Entioickelunfj.        t'd.     Keuss, 

Strassbuig,    Universitatsbucliliandluug,     1886. 

264  pp. 
Kkim,      .     .     .     Life  of  Jesus  of  Nazai-a.    Eiig.  Trau.sl.  ("W.  &  N.). 

See  esp.  vol.  i.  pp.  314-327,  vol.  iv.  pp.  256-343, 

and  vol.  vi.  pp.  384-end. 
King,      .     .     .      l^ie  Yalkut  on  Zechariah,tra,nshitod  with 'is  otesa.ml 

Appendices.      Appendix    A,    pp.    85-108,    on 

Messiah  Ben-Joseph.     1882. 
KuEXKX,      .     .     A'e%<ott  o/Zsra-"^  (Eng.  Transl.),  iii.  259-273. 
Lang,      .     .     .      "Die  Messias-Ideen  der  Juden,"ait.  in  .ZeiV.s^rwiJHew 

aus  der  reformirten  Kirche  der  Schiveiz,  1865. 
Langen,      .     .     Das  Judenthum   in    Paldstina    zur    Zeit    Christi, 

p.  331-end,   "also   discussion   of  documents" 

(Stanton).     1866. 
Lt'CKE,    .     .     .      Versuch  einer  Vollstandigen  Einleitung  in  die  Offvv- 

barunrj   des   Johannes   (4th    vol.    of    Com.    on 

Writings  of  St.  John),  second  ed.,  1852.     See 

esp.  p2).  17-212.     Riehm  quotes  from  this  work, 

p.  322. 
JIuLLEU,      .     .     Parallelen  zu  den  messianischen  Weissagungen  und 

Typen  des  Alten  Testaments  aus  dem  hellcnischen 

Alterthum.     Leipzig  1875. 
Neumann,  .     .     Die   Messianischen  Erscheinungen   bei   den   Juden, 

1865. 
PiEPENBKixo,  .      Tlibolog'ie    de   VAnrien    Testament.      Paris,    Fiscli- 

ba'cher,  1886.    315  pp. 
Riehm,    .     .     .     .4 ?/<e.<tame/?///f  Ac  7'Aeofey/e,  revised  and  edited  since 

the   author's   death    by    K.    Pahnke.      Halle, 

Strien,  1889.     440  pp.     See   a  review   of  this 

work  by  Prof.  A.  B.  Davidson  in  the  Critical 

Revieiv  of  Theol.  and  Phil.  Lit.  vol.  i.  No.  1, 

pp.  28  ff. 
RoMHKLi),    .     .      Theologia  Sacrosancta,    Gmndlijiien  der  hihlischen 

Theologie.       Gotha,    Schloessmann,     1888-89, 

2  vols.     526  and  616  pp.     (Author  seeks   to 

prove  that  Jehovah  ( Yah'veh)  is  everywhere  to 

be  identified  with  Jesus. ) 
ScHENKEL,  .     .     Arts.  "  Messias  "  and  "  Messiauisclie  Weissiigungen  " 

in  Bibel- Lexicon,  1871. 


348 


Apjjrndices. 


AOTUOR. 
SCIII.UTTMANN, 


Sciiri/rz, 


SCUURKK. 


Vkunks,  . 


Wkkek, 


Wi'.iiiNKi;, 
Wkst,     . 

WiTTIUHKN. 
^'l)UNfJ,    . 

Zkllek, . 
ZocKhr.n, 


Kotii/iritdiii/n  der  hiJil'tHchcn  Theolor/ie  dfi^  Allen  u. 
Ncufu  Ti'xtamenls,  edited  by  E.  Kiihn.  Leip- 
zig, DiirflUngu.  Fraiike,  18S9,  192  pp. 

Allti'stame.utlir/ir  Theolorjir.  Fourtli  (completely  re- 
vised) ed.  (iiittingeii,  Vandenhoeck  u.  Kup- 
lecht,  1889.  823  pp.  (Exceedingly  full  on  all 
the  elements  of  Messianic  Hope.  See  esp.  Part 
iv.) 

Gesch.  des  Jiklischen  Volkes  im  Zdtalter  Jem.  (Eng. 
Transl.  just  completed,  1890,  in  5  vols.,  Edin., 
Clark.  With  valuable  Inde.x  q.  vid.  on 
"  Messiah  "  and  "  Messianic  Hope.") 

Hidoire  de.s  Idee'i  Mcssinniques,  depuis  Alexandre 
jusqu'  d  I'empereur  Hadrien.     1874. 

System  der  Altsynagoi/nlen  Paldatinischen  Theologie 
nits  Targnm,  Midrasch  iiiid  Talmud,  4th 
Section,  pp.  322-386.     1880. 

lilblical  Theology  of  O.T.  Ixised  on  Oehler.  Phila- 
delphia,  Garner,  1886.    224  pp. 

Esfhatology.     Chicago,  Fleming,  1889.     493  pp. 

Die  Idee  des  Reichen  Gotten.     1872. 

The  Chriatology  of  the  Tanptms.     1853. 

Theologiwhe  Jahrhb.  for  1843,  pp.  .35-52. 

Ilandbuch  der  theologischen  Wifisenschaften,  vol.  i. 
third  ed.  pp.  4*22-477:  Theologie  den  Alien 
Tcstnmcula,  von  F.  W,  Sclraltz,  ergiinzt  von 
K.  v.  Orclli.     18S8. 


HI.  Editions  of  some  of  the  chief  Jewish  Documents. 


Al-EXANDKi;,      . 
DiLLMAXN,  .      . 


Fiurzsciir..  . 


SCHOUDK, 


Oracida  Sihyllina.     1869. 

IJds  Bitch  Henoch,  ueberselzt  u.  erklart.     1853, 

"  Das  Buch  der  .Tvibiliien,  oder  die  kleine  Genesis  ; 
aus  dem  Aethiopischen  iibersetzt,"  in  Ewald's 
Jahrl).  der  Bibl.  Wisnemch.  1850-51. 

IJItri  Apoci-yphi  Vet.  TeM.  qitibus  accedunt  Pseud- 
I'pigraphi  .selecti.  "For  Psalms  of  Solomon,' 
Fourth  liook  of  Esdras,  the  Apocalypse  of 
Baruch,  and  the  Assumption  of  Moses  "  (Stan- 
ton), 1871. 

Enoch.  Andovcr  1882.  (The  only  Eng.  edition  of 
the  Book  of  Enoch.) 


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Kurtz  (Prof.)— Handbook  of  Church  History.     Two  vols.  8vo,  $6.00. 

History  of  the  Old  Covenant.     Three  vols.  8vo,  $9.00. 

Laidlaw  (Prof.) — The  Bible  Doctrine  of  Man.     8vo,  $4.00. 

Lechler  (Prof.  G.  V.,  D.D.) — The  Apostolic  and  Post-Apostolic  Times. 
Their  Diversity  and  Unity  in  Life  and  Doctrine.     Two  vols.  or.  8vo,  $6.00. 

Lehmann  (Pastor) — Scenes  from  the  Life  op  Jesus.      Crown  8vo,  $L50. 

Lichtenberger's  History  op  German  Theology  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century.  Eevised  and  brought  np  to  date,  with  impoi-tant  additions 
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Lisco  (F.  G.) — Parables  op  Jesus  Explained.     Fcajj.  8vo,  $2.00. 

Lotze  (Hermann) — MiCROCOSMUS  :  An  Essay  concerning  Man  and  his  Relation 

to  the  World.     8vo  (1450  pages),  one  vol.,  $6.00. 
Luthardt,  Kahnis,  and  Briickner — The  Church.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 
Luthardt  (Prof.) — St.  John  the  Author  of  the  Fourth  Gospel.     $3.00. 

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Mair  (A.,  D.D.)— Studies  in  the  Christian  Evidences.      Second  Edition, 

crown  8vo,  ?2.00. 

Martensen  (Bishop)— Christian  Dogmatics  :  A  Compendium  of  the  Doctrines 

of  Christianit}'.     8vo,  $3.00. 

Chri.stian  Ethics.    (General  Ethics.)    8vo,  $3.00. 

Christian  Ethics.    (Individual  Ethics.)     8vo,  $3.00. 

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Matheson  (Geo.,  D.D.)— Growth  of  the  Spirit  of  Christianity,  from  the 
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—  Aids  to  the  Study  of  German  Theology.    Third  Edition,  $1.50. 

Meyer  (Dr.) — Critical  and  Execjetical  Commentary  on  St.  Matthew's 

Gospel.     Two  vols.  8vo,  .?().00. 

On  Mark  and  Luke.     Two  vols.  Bvo,  $6.00. 

On  St.  John's  Gospel.     Two  vols.  Bvo,  $6.00. 

On  Acts  of  the  Apostles.     Two  vols.  Bvo,  $6.00. 

On  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.    Two  vols.  8vo,  $6.00. 

On  Corinthians.     Two  vols.  Bvo,  $6.00. 

On  Galatians.     8vo,  $3.00. 

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On  Philippians  and  Colossians.     One  vol.  Bvo,  $3.00. 


On  Thessalonians.     {Dr.  Liinemann.)    One  vol.  8vo,  $3.00. 

The  Pastoral  Epistles.     {Dr.  Huther.)    Bvo,  $3.00. 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.     {Dr.  LUnemann.)    8vo,  $3.00. 

St.  James'  and  St.  John's  Epistles.     {Huther.)    Bvo,  $3.00. 

Peter  and  Jude.     {Dr.  Huther.)     One  vol.  Bvo,  $3.00. 

*,*   This  translation  is  from  the  last  edition  revised  bi/  the  late  Dr.  Me>jei\ 
Michie  (Charles,  M.A.) — Bible  Words  and  Phrases.     IBmo,  40  cents. 
Monrad  (Dr.  D.  G.)— The  World  of  Prayer.     Crown  Bvo,  $1.80. 
Miiller  (Dr.  Julius) — The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Sin.      An  entirely  New 
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NaviUe  (Ernest) — The  Problem  of  Evil.     Crown  Bvo,  $1.80. 

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Moses  :  A  Bildical  Study.     Crown  Bvo,  $2.40. 

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SaiBset — Manual  of  Modern  Pantheism.     Two  vols.  Bvo,  $4.00. 
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Schmid's  Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament.    8vo,  |3.00. 

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Simon  (Rev.  Prof.  D.  W.) — The  Bible  ;    An  Outgrowth  of  Theocratic  Life. 

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Redemption    of    Man.      Discussions   bearing  on   the  Atonement. 

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On  the  Doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit.    2nd  Edition.    8vo,  $3.60. 

Smith  (Prof.  Thos.,  D.D.)— Mediaeval  Missions.     Crown  8vo,  ^1.80. 

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Life  of  St.  Paul.     Large  Type  Edition.     Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

Stanton   (V.   H.,   M.A.) — The   Jewish   and   The   Christian   Messiah.      A 

Study  in  the  Earliest  History  of  Cliristianity.     8vo,  ,|4.00. 
Steinmeyer  (Dr.  F.  L.) — The  Miracles  of  Our  Lord  :    Examined  in  their 

relation  to  Modern  Criticism.     8vo,  $3.00. 

The  History  of  the  Passion  and  Resurrection  of  Our  Lord, 

considered  in  the  light  of  Modern  Criticism.     8vo,  $3.00. 

Stevenson  (Mrs.) — The  Symbolic  Parables  :  The  Predictions  of  the  Apoca- 
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Steward  (Rev.  G.) — Mediatorial  Sovereignty  :  Tlie  Mystery  of  Christ  and 
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The  Argument  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.     8vo,  $4.20. 

Stier  (Dr.  Rudolph)—  On  the  Words  of  the  Lord  Jesus.    Eight  vols.  8vo.  .$24.00. 

The  Words  of  the  Risen  Saviour,  and  Commentary  on  the 

Epistle  of  St.  Jamks.    8vo,  $3.00. 

The  Words  of  the  Apostles  Expounded.     8vo,  $3.00. 

Thohick  (Prof.) — Light  from  the  Cross.     Third  Edition,  crown  8vo,  $2.00. 
Tophel  (Pastor  G.) — The  Work  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     Crown  8vo,  $1.00. 
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The  Sinlessness  of  Jesus  :   An  Evidence  for  Christianity.     Fourtli 

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Urwick   (W.,   M.A.) — The    Servant    of   Jehovah  :    A   Commentary  upon 

Isaiah  lii.  13-liii.  12 :  with  Dissertations  upon  Isaiah  xl.-lxvi.     8vo,  $2.40. 

Vinet. — Life  of  Alexander  Vinet.     By  Laura  M.  Lane.     Post  8vo,  $3.00. 

Walker  (J.,  D.D.) — Theology  and  Theologians  of  Scotland.  New 
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Watts  (Prof.) — The  Newer  Criticism  and  the  Analogy  of  the  Faith. 

Third  Edition,  crown  8vo,  $2.00. 

The  Reign  of  Causality  :  A  Vindication  of  the  Scientific  Principle 

of  Telic  Causal  Efficiency.     Crown  8vo,  $2.40. 

Weiss  (Prof.)— Biblical  Theology  of  New  Testament.     2  vols.  8vo,  $6.00. 

Life  of  Christ.     Three  vols.  8vo,  $9.00. 

White  (Rev.  M.) — Symbolical  Numbers  of  Scripture.     Crown  8vo,  $1.50. 

Winer  (Dr.  G.  B.) — A  Treatise  on  the  Grammar  op  New  Testament 
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edited  by  "W.  F.  Moulton,  D.D.     Ninth  English  Edition,  8vo,  .$6.00 

The  Doctrines  and  Confessions  of  Christendom.     8vo,  $3.00. 

Witherow  (Prof.  T.,  D.D.) — The  Form  of  the  Christian  Temple.    8vo,  $4.00. 
Workman  (Prof.  G.  G.) — The  Text  op  Jeremiah  ;  or,  A  Critical  Investigation 

of  t-he  Greek  and  Hebrew,  with  the  Variations  in  the  LXX  Eetranslated  into 
the  Original  and  Exi^lained.     Post  8vo,  ,$3.60. 

Wright  (C.  H.,  D.D.)— Biblical  Essays.     Crown  8vo,  $2.00. 


M 


ESSRS.    SCRIBNER   &  WELFORI)  specially  invitL-   paiticuhii    attention    to 
the  following  valnable  Woik.s  issued  in  the  Series 

"CLARK'S  FOREIGN  THEOLOGICAL  LIBRARY," 


Baumgarten— The  History  of  the  Church  In  the  Apostolic  Age.    Tliree  vols. 
Bleek    Introduction  to  the  New  Testament.    Two  vols. 
Cassel's  Commentary  on  Esther.    One  vol. 
Delltzsch— Commentary  on  Job.    Two  vols. 

New  Commentary  on  Genesis.    Two  vols. 

Commentary  on  the  Psalms.    Tluoo  vols. 

Commentary  on  tho  Proverbs  of  Solomon.    Two  vols. 

Commentary  on  Song  of  Solomon  and  Ecclesiastes.    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  the  Prophecies  of  Isaiah.    Two  vols. 

New  Commentary  on  Isaiah.    Vol.  1.  now  ready. 

Commentary  on  Epistle  to  tho  Hebrews.    Two  vols. 

A  System  of  Biblical  Psychology.    One  \-ol. 


Domer— A  System  of  Christian  Doctrine.    I'oiii'  vols. 

History  of  the  Development  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ     Five  vols. 

Ebrard— Commentary  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  John.    One  vol. 
The  Gospel  History.    One  v(  il. 

Apologetics.      Tlu-ee  vols. 

Ewald— Revelation:  Its  Nature  and  Record.    One  vol. 

• —  Old  and  New  Testament  Theology.    One  vol. 

Frank's  System  of  Christian  Certainty.  One  vol. 
Gebhardt— Doctrine  of  the  Apocalypse.  One  vol. 
Godet— Commentary  on  St.  Luke's  Gospel.    Two  vols. 

Commentary  on  St.  John's  Gospel.    Tliree  vols. 

Commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.    Two  vols. 

Commentary  on  First  Corinthians.    Two  vols. 

Goebel— On  the  Parables.    One  vol. 

Hagenbach— History  of  the  Reformation.    Two  vols. 

History  of  Christian  Doctrines.    Three  vols. 

Harless— A  System  of  Christian  Ethics.    One  vol. 
Haupt— Commentary  on  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  John.    One  vol. 
HSvemick— General  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament.    One  vol. 
Hengstenberg— Christology  of  the  Old  Testament.    Four  vols. 

Commentary  on  the  Psalms.    Three  vols. 

On  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes.    Kfc.  etc    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.    Two  vols. 

Commentary  on  Ezekiel.    One  vol. 

The  Kingdom  of  God  ujider  the  Old  Covenant.    Two  vols. 

Kell— Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament.    Two\ols. 

Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch.    Three  vols. 

Commentary  on  Joshua,  Judges,  and  Ruth.    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  the  Books  of  Samuel.    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  the  Books  of  Kings.    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  the  Books  of  Chronicles.    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  and  Esther.    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  Jeremiah  and  Lamentations.    Two  vols. 

Commentary  on  Ezekiel.    Two  vols. 

Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Daniel.    One  vol. 

Commentary  on  the  Minor  Prophets.    Two  vols. 

Biblical  Archaeology.    Two  vols. 

Kurtz— History  of  the  Old  Covenant;  or,  Old  Testament  Dispensation.    Throe  vols. 
Luthardt— Commentary  on  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.    Three  \(ils. 

History  of  Christian  Ethics.    Vol.  1 

Martensen— Christian  Dogmatics.    One  vol. 

Christian  Ethics.    General— Social— Individual.    Three  vols. 

Miiller--The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Sin.    Two  vols. 

Oehler— Biblical  Theology  of  the  Old  Testament.    Two  vols. 

Orelll    Prophecy  regarding  Consummation  of  God's  Kingdom.    One  vol, 

Commentary  on  Isaiah,    one  vol. 

Commentary  on  Jeremiah.    One  vol. 

Philippi— Commentary  on  Epistle  to  Romans.    Two  vols. 
RSbiger— Encyclopaadia  of  Theology.    Two  vols. 
Sartorlus— The  Doctrine  of  Divine  Love,    one  vol. 

Sohiirer— The  Jewish  People  in  tho  Time  of  Christ.    Hivision  I.   Vol.1.    Division  II.    Tliree  vi 
Steinmeyer-  History  of  the  Passion  and  Resurrection  of  our  Lord.    One  vol. 
Stler  -The  Words  of  the  Lord  Jesus.     i;i-hi  \ois. 

The  Words  of  the  Risen  Saviour,  and  Commentary  on  Epistle  of  St.  James.    One  i 

The  Words  of  the  Apostles  Expounded.    One  vol. 

nUmann    Reformers  before  the  Reformation.    Two  voh. 
Weiss— Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament.    Two  vols. 

The  Life  of  Christ.    Three  vols. 

Winer— Collection  of  the  Confessions  of  Christendom.    One  vol. 

'.*  For  Prices  of  the  above  Works  see  preceding  pages. 


Date  Due 


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